Matt's Retro-Reviews: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

I am a very lucky guy. I was blessed enough to just find a copy of Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas on the Wal-Mart shelves recently. The legendary word-of-mouth about both the film and the book had me interested and 9 dollars wasn’t much to lay down for this movie. Oh, what a bargain, what a bargain!

This movie is fantastic. I’ve watched it 8 times since purchasing it and have yet to grow tired of Hunter S. Thompson’s classic story. Sure, it has an almost non-existent plot structure, but who cares about that when Johnny Depp is hallucinating about a violent, reptile orgy while Benicio del Toro is having a mescaline-induced freak-out?

Fear and Loathing is a film that manages to show the insanity in a circus-themed casino while also making you extremely uncomfortable in a place as inconspicuous as a diner. And through it all, you are constantly enraptured and enthralled by Johnny Depp perfectly imitating the literary genius Thompson. Even if you manage to somehow get bored with Depp’s character himself, you’ll still be entertained by how he plays off del Toro as Dr. Gonzo.

While the film does spend a lot of time having drug-fueled fun, it does manage to stop from the insanity for a few moments, turn towards the viewer, and confront the audience with the theme of over-indulgence and the failures of the counter-culture.

The movie has a descending arc. Things start out happy-go lucky with the devious pair’s antics, but by the end of the film, you’re taken to the dark, ugly side of the addict. Only after multiple viewings was I able to see the overall journey the plot takes, preventing this from being just some frat-boy inspired drug romp.
What truly ties the film together in a way the book was able to is the narration. Depp narrates a lot in the film and it prevents the whole package from being just a series random events.

This is, without a doubt, a cult classic. It is masterpiece of comedy and introspection. It truly is “a gross physical salute to fantastic possibilities of life in this country.” While it isn’t as good or deep as the book, it’s still a fantastic visual send-up of the original novel. It has quickly become one of my favorite films of all time and I hope soon to be yours as well.

Spill Rating: Better than Sex!!!