Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

Written by: Terry Gilliam, Tony Grisoni, Tod Davies, & Alex Cox (screenplay), Hunter S. Thompson (novel)
Directed by: Terry Gilliam
Starring: Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro
Reviewer: Brett Gallman
Buy Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas at Amazon.com!

“So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look west, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark - that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.”

Reviewer's Rating: ***½ (3 and a half Stars)

On of cinema’s great acid trips, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas follows the surreal, autobiographical misadventures of Hunter S. Thompson (Johnny Depp) and his attorney, Dr. Gonzo (Benecio del Toro). Sent to Vegas in the early 70s to cover a banal motorcycle race, the duo instead fries their brains with drugs. Depp and del Toro expertly portray the two hedonistic anarchists; both are incredibly glib, but Depp especially so. You’ll likely miss a lot of what he has to say; of course, much of his meandering dialogue is nonsense, the productions of a drug-addled mind. So, too, is the narrative, which really amounts do nothing more than a series of bizarre, hyper-real events that are connected only by their sheer aimlessness.

Director Gilliam proves to be a kindred spirit for Thompson’s frazzled mind; his direction is supremely kinetic and askew, truly capturing the absurd, psychedelic seediness of it all: Thompson’s exploits, Las Vegas, and America itself. The film is unquestionably a technical masterpiece that captures a sort of silly, nihilistic story that’s keenly aware of its own pointlessness (at one point, Thompson wonders aloud what the point of it all is). One rare, reflective moment guides us to that point, wherein Thompson remembers the vitality of 60s flower power (which was only a few short years ago). All of that has been lost in the specter of Vietnam and Nixon, both of which are omnipresent forces in the film; meanwhile, the American flag becomes a disposable symbol of irony. Suddenly, we realize the film is excessively without point as a contrast to a better time.

Beat poet Allen Ginsberg once lamented about how “the best minds of [his] generation were destroyed”; though Thompson was a generation behind Ginsberg, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas feels like a struggle not to be one of those great minds gone to waste. And if this is indeed the refuse of a brilliant mind, I’d say he succeeded.

ADDITIONAL IMAGES:

---