Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
by Terry Gilliam

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Movie Reviews of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Movie Review: Fady Ghaly's reviews
Summary: 5 Stars

While it, to many, seemed as being a painfully long and senseless film, it really defined the counterculture of its day. Needless to say, with characters who'll suppose of such mind-bending pharmaceuticals as daily substances to indulge upon, unnecessary close-ups of vomit and urine, and swooping camera movements at any and every opportunity, this very atypical and repellent film is certainly not for everyone. ("We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half-full of cocaine and a whole galaxy of multicolored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers... Also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls... But the only thing that worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible than a man in the depths of an ether binge," Duke narrates to us.)
But for the self-seeking and fans of either Hunter S. Thompson or Terry Gilliam...

Although it was clear that the film had no real plot line to support it, no shape, trajectory, or purpose, that did not matter-to me, anyway-because it regards these two characters, Duke and Gonzo, and if you'll find them appealing to me, if you'll like them, then so will you like this film. Why do people enjoy such innovative television sitcoms as Seinfeld? It has absolutely no plot line to it, no objectives by any means; it's about nothing. So why is it that it has become one of the primary choices in popular culture? -Because we enjoy seeing these four comical characters' every day lives...about nothing; they entertain us, as both Duke and Gonzo had entertained me. It's all about them, you see. It's all about their world, which is frequently seen entirely through their eyes, thereby generating greater sidesplitting and outrageous moments as the images and events they think they're seeing further affects their mental stability. We see these guys rambling fatuously past the eccentric backdrops of Las Vegas while zonked out of their minds. We see them take more drugs, get themselves into new situations, fall about, flounder, wreak havoc, and retreat to their hotel suit, and oftentimes these events will be introduced by Duke himself as the narrator who comments on them. Now, humor relies on behavior. Beyond a particular point, you don't have a behavior, you reside a state, but that was okay, because I, as I have previously said, liked these characters, and although there reached a point when they no longer made me laugh as hard, their lives, somehow, in an awkward way, still managed to entertain me. Also, I enjoyed all of the visuals and computer-generated scenes.

Director Terry Gilliam, a master of complex, bizarre visual imagery, does such an outstanding job in capturing the exact agitated tone, intensity and utter madness of Hunter S. Thompson's classic book, which really came as to no surprise whatsoever, for the book itself was used as their screenplay. For the first time ever, a book was used as a screenplay, and the result is astonishing! Usually after having finished with a book that's based upon a film you've previously seen, you wind up saying to yourself: the film was nowhere near as good, unlike for this title, where both the film and book equally major and have the same fine quality in a twisted kind of way. And, like the book, Gilliam really has you feel for these very dysfunctional individuals who, as you sit there and observe of the many risks they so carelessly make, you form a special care for and don't want anything fatal to happen to.

The performances were just incredulously stunning! In fact, these vivid actors were so persuasive, you'll forget of the fact that they were even acting at all, let alone whom they were portrayed by. The very underrated Johnny Depp clearly proves that he's a worthy actor who'll be willing to do anything for whatever roll that strikes his taste (rather than those that would strike moviegoers'), as this one had following his approbation upon Thompson's inspirational book, which also had an affect upon Benicio Del Toro, who, when gaining that much weight for a roll, you know he's committed. (And did you see Depp's bold scalp? It was amazing!)

Summary of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas