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Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
USA 1998
produced by Patrick Cassavetti, Laila Nabulsi, Stephen Nemeth, Harold Bronson (executive), Richard Foos (executive) for Rhino Films, Shark Productions, Summit Etnertainment/Universal
directed by Terry Gilliam
starring Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro, Tobey Maguire, Michael Lee Gogin, Larry Cedar, Brian Le Baron, Katherine Helmond, Michael Warwick, Craig Bierko, Tyde Kierney, Mark Harmon, Tim Thomerson, Richard Riehle, Ransom Gates, Laraine Newman, Frank Romano, Gil Boccaccio, Gary Bruno, Richard Portnow, Debbie Reynolds (voice), Steve Schirripa, Verne Troyer, Will Blount, Ben Yeagar, Penn Jillette, Christopher Callen, Cameron Diaz, Benjamin A. van der Veen, Lyle Lovett, Flea, Alex Craig Mann, Gregory Itzin, Gary Busey, Troy Evans, Gale Baker, Christopher Meloni, Christina Ricci, Chris Hendrie, Larry Brandenburg, Michael Jeter, Harry Dean Stanton, Jenette Goldstein, Stephen Bridgewater, Donald Morrow, Buck Holland, Mary Gillis, Jennifer Elise Cox, Robert Allen, Ellen Barkin, David Brisbin, James O'Sullivan, Milt Tarver, Hunter S. Thompson (uncredited cameo)
screenplay by Terry Gilliam, Tony Grisoni, Tod Davies, Alex Cox, based on the novel by Hunter S. Thompson, music by Ray Cooper, lizard people created by Ron Bottin
review by Mike Haberfelner
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LA, 1971: Journalist Raoul Duke (Johnny Depp) is hired to cover a
motorbike race in Las Vegas, and he decides to take his legal advisor Dr.
Gonzo (Benicio Del Toro) with him, who advises him to get a convertible
and fill it up with all kinds of drugs known to men (and some unknown to
men) and plenty of booze to wash the drugs down. So even the journey to
Vegas is utter chaos - as witnessed by a hitchhiker (Tobey Maguire), they
pick up who decides to get out of the car in the middle of the desert
rather than go another mile with them. Once at the hotel, it gets really
bad when, totally tripping out, Raoul believes all the guests at the hotel
bar to be lizard people. At the race track, they soon enough get confused
over the location of the track, lose themselves in the desert, and when
they want to give the race more coverage the next day, they learn it's
already over. Dr. Gonzo heads home, leaving Raoul with the hotel bill,
which he never intended to pay, so he wants to escape back home when he
receives a note he's to cover a cop congress. At another hotel, he meets
up with Dr. Gonzo again as well as underaged Lucy (Christina Ricci), who
has dedicated her life to painting Barbara Streisand portraits. The girl
might compromise their drug habit, so Raoul gets rid of her, setting her
up on a different hotel on a check that's sure to bounce - and then things
really spin out of control ... Among the film's guest stars are Cameron
Diaz as a prim and proper TV journalist, Ellen Barkin as a desert diner
waitress, and Gary Busey as a highway patrolman. Hunter S.
Thompson's novel this film is based on has long been deemed unfilmable,
and seeing this movie, one can easily see why: The story of Fear and
Loathing of Las Vegas, the novel, fun read as it may be, simply
doesn't follow a clear narrative thread and is full of exaggerations and
trippy sequences that don't necessarily lead to anywhere. And yet, what
director Terry Gilliam has made out of it while staying fairly faithful to
the source material is wonderful, a fast paced, wacky trip of a movie that
combines disturbing images with weird humour, shows utter contempt for
realism and goes for associative imagery instead, and lets its actors
really go off the hook. In that respect, it's particular fun to watch
Johnny Depp's later trademark mannerisms in their early stages. Now sure,
the film might not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you're up for
something wild and unusual that has actually stood the test of time, then
this is totally recommended.
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