Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

This is far from your everyday movie, and only for those with a deep appreciation for the diversity of film-making, or fans of Hunter S. Thompson. This does not mean those mentioned will enjoy it, although definitely respect the attempt. I personally found it fascinating. To portray a permanently drug induced state to the big screen was done with creativity and subtle humour. You could expect nothing less from director Terry Gilliam who has played such a massive role in the brilliant and original Monty Python works. Having never read any of Hunter S. Thompson's work, I get the impression that justice is done for the adaptation to the big screen. An absolutely quality cast must be credited for this, ensuring a natural performance is achieved. Las Vegas which features strongly throughout the movie seems to be so appropriate when dealing with this subject matter, they just seem to go hand in hand.

The `unflimable' novel by Thompson is brought to the screen. Hunter S. Thompson gets a call to go to Las Vegas to cover a motorcross race. Using the advance money to purchase a load of drugs he sets out on a road trip with his crazed Samoan lawyer. However as their trip continues they encounter all manner of insanity and paranoia in their drug fuelled trip into the American dream Never read the book, never been a big fan of this particular culture and ever felt inclined to read any of this sort of work – however, really enjoyed the movie. The plot is, well, a trip rather than anything concrete or logical. There is a message tacked on somewhere near the end but really this is more of an experience than a story. To me the film mainly succeeded due to Terry Gilliam. His crazed sense of humour is fed through the whole piece, stopping it being indulgent or pretentious as it could easily have been. Instead it manages to be a drug movie but also be very OTT and very. Gilliam's imagination really made Thompson's trips come to life. It must be hard to actually put something like that on film and I thought he did very well. This vision is well supported by a brilliantly pitched performance by Depp. He is on the very edge of ham with this one but gets it just right – making Thompson funny and exaggerated. De Toro is as good but is very much playing second fiddle on this one. An all star list of cameos including Maguire, Barkin, Busey, Ricci, Harmon, Penn (of & Teller), Diaz and Lyle Lovett are all enjoyable and don't detract from the film in the way cameos sometimes can (`oh look it's etc'). The film may be very loose and aimless but what did you expect? Those wanting tightness of plot and a set narrative may be let down (though there is a car chase for the teens!). However this is well worth a look as it is a funny, very imaginative film that proved a lot of people wrong when they said that it could never be filmed. Certainly anyone who likes the films of Terry Gilliam will find much of his madness here to enjoy.

When the hitchhiker bailed out of the convertible early on, I wondered if it wasn't so much to get away from the two doped-out characters or to escape the agony of watching this movie for another hour and forty minutes. I really could not see what the point of this movie was. It looks like it was to see how stoned the main characters could get on various controlled substances, how stupid they could act and how much property damage they could inflict in the process. I would have liked to see the two main characters be sober for part of the movie to compare and contrast their thoughts, feelings, and behavior between when they were high and when they were sober.

source: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Was there something I didn't get? Besides the fact that I didn't read the book (but people who did seem to hate this movie too), my only regret is not leaving the movie early. My two friends begged me to leave about 30 minutes into the movie but I kept saying "no, I think it'll get better". It didn't. If you want to go see a movie about drugs, go see Permanent Midnight (which I didn't like that much but at least IT MADE SENSE). This movie was complete and utter crap. It did not have any kind of plot or storyline that made any kind of sense. Perhaps I should have read the book?

Johnny Depp. Wow. What can I say about this guy? He's amazing as an actor. But for his movie choices, he's a little weird. It took me a couple times to really get into this film. But it's actually pretty decent. You have to be in a strange mood to watch it. The whole story is kind of interesting. If you have never been on an acid trip and don't want to be, but are interested, watch the film. It's so crazy and psychotic. I thought it was good though. It has good acting and dialouge. I would recommend it. But like I said, you have to be in a certain mood. It takes a little bit to get used to. Johnny, he's one heck of an actor. 9/10

I've seen this movie twice now. The tone and style of this film is very unique and captivating. The jokes were hilarious and it kept me hooked from beginning to end.

Utter flop in which every moment of coherence - never mind insight or entertainment - grabs at you like an oasis in a desert of flashy, mumbled, over-shot chaos. There's no upside here, no angle on it other than the whirl of the experience itself, and it s quite incredible how quickly that gets tedious - it's a long slow haul. At the end, we get only a few worthless voice overs about how Leary failed to acknowledge the real pressures and factors that would stand in the way of dropping out - not that the movie has been any help in illustrating this theme. The camera is busy, to no effect, and the performances are too hermetically weird to be even slightly enjoyable. It leaves the movie as a big, overdone, self-contained strike out.

I believe I'm in the majority who just think this is a mess of a movie that purposefully tries to be as obscene as possible. And to be fair, the two main characters are high as a kite on some type of hallucinating drug for 90 percent of the film. It would be difficult to have a real purpose or plot if that was the case. It strives to be bizarre, and in that it very much succeeds. Visually, the film is creative and unique without a doubt. There were some scenes that were comedic and well done. Gonzo (Benicio Del Toro) on the phone pretending to get beat up was probably the highlight for me. I get that some people love this movie and I can appreciate that, it just wasn't my thing.

Although widely considered a cult classic, this movie is almost unwatchable for the average viewer. The depiction of the LSD experience and general visual approach of Terry Gilliam is interesting as always, but that's hardly enough to support an entire movie. Even the slightest sign of a plot would have helped enormously, but the film is just a stitching of scenes comprising of... pretty much nothing at all. The movie's subsequent cult success is probably due to the fact that people with drug experiences can identify with certain events of the movie, but definitely, experiencing an acid trip yourself must be much more enjoyable than living it through the eyes of a bald Johnny Depp.