The Rocky Mountain Collegian

September 5th, 2007

Gems – Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Ah, Hunter S. Thompson.  The world lost a powerful ally against censorship when the great man died in 2005.  The nature of his writing is such that it will defy the ravages of time and endure his many insights for countless generations.  Today I want to call attention to the modern adaptation of his book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas to the table.

For those who don’t know who Thompson was let me give you a quick introduction.  Hunter S. Thompson was an American journalist who was quite influential in the emergence of what is commonly referred to as Gonzo Journalism, which is a type of writing in which the journalist gets intimately involved in the subjects of his writing.  He wrote many books, and of course one of the most well known is Fear and Loathing.  He was quite a character, very polarizing for many people.  He was known to participate in the consumption most types of illegal drugs.  As such, it was a very difficult decision to find an actor insane enough to play his part.

Enter Johnny Depp.  Thompson actually met with Depp before filming and was convinced that he was the only one for the part.  Allegedly Depp spent three weeks in Thompson’s basement, studying the ways of the beast (participating in the drug habits of said beast when necessary).  Knowing Depp’s success as an actor, doubts about his ability to play eccentric characters should be set aside to begin with.  Depp does a phenomenal job playing Raoul Duke (Thompson’s alias in the book).  The other character of note is his “distinguished attorney” Dr. Gonzo who is played by Benicio del Toro.  Yes, Dr. Gonzo is a bit nuts too, so you can imagine this was right up Benicio del Toro’s alley.

The story chronicles Duke and Gonzo’s trip to Las Vegas to cover a motorcycle race for the sports magazine Duke writes for.  Those looking for a well conceived, purposeful plot will find nothing here.  Thompson wrote about what actually happened to him during his drug induced adventures in Vegas.  Therefore, the product is a series of scenes, many hilarious, with insightful narration from Duke.  The script is the real star here as much of Thompson’s writing for the book is used verbatim in many cases.  Also of particular note is the direction which is of the highest quality.  Again, no less would be expected since the man for the job was none other than the eccentric Terry Gilliam.  In the final test screening for the movie, Thompson was invited to watch it and give his input.  The movie was so accurate that he had drug induced flashbacks during the viewing!

After watching the movie again recently, I realize that this may not be for everyone.  I actually watched it with a few friends that were downright repulsed by it.  You really need to go in with an open mind.  If you can appreciate where Thompson was coming from with his style of journalism then this movie will be very rewarding for anyone willing to take the plunge.

(Great respects to the late and still great Hunter S. Thompson.)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 5th, 2007 at 12:49 am and is filed under the reel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.