Where the Buffalo Roam
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Movie Reviews of Where the Buffalo Roam
Movie Review: dootle loot doot doot doo
Summary: 3 Stars
This movie is all about Bill Murray's impressive performance as Hunter S. Thompson. If there's anyone out there who isn't an HST fan yet liked this movie, I'd be curious to hear their perspective. Aside from the usual criticisms of this movie, the biggest offender is the cringe-inducing portrayal of Oscar Zeta Ocosta, Hunter's infamous attorney. At any rate, this is worth being in my collection.Movie Review: Original soundtrack version!!!
Summary: 3 Stars
I've just found that "Where the Buffalo Roam" with the original unedited soundtrack can be found as part of netflix's streaming video selection. It's from the same widescreen master as the DVD, only that horrible 80s temp music is gone. I guess the music rights could be released for instant viewing on the web. Maybe we'll eventually see the right version on DVD one day...Movie Review: compare
Summary: 3 Stars
Neede this for my Thompson collection for comparison.Murry does a fare job but movie hops around without much definition.Not nearly as good as fearand loathingMovie Review: "Weird enough for me"
Summary: 2 Stars
"Where the Buffalo Roam" is a good example of a movie which is extremely mediocre but nonetheless underrated. While I realize that my two-star rating is lower than the average here on Amazon, it is higher than the overall critical reputation of this movie, which seems to be largely remembered for initiating Bill Murray's friendship with the real-life Hunter Thompson and for causing Murray to cause problems on the set of Season 5 of SNL, for which he arrived in New York unable to come out of the Thompson character.
Hunter S. Thompson himself expressed the truth about this movie when he said that Murray's performance was excellent but that the script was bad. "Where the Buffalo Roam" is extremely weakly structured, coming across as a series of episodes rather than a single coherent narrative. Its ending is extremely confusing and seems to assume that viewers already know the story of Thompson and his friend Oscar Zeta Acosta (called "Dr. Gonzo" in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and "Carl Lazlo" in this film). The film's resolution would have been considerably clarified had Lazlo's possible fate been dramatized rather than left off-screen.
But the performances of Murray and Peter Boyle (as Lazlo) are excellent. The two actors succeed in conveying (in an unconventional way) the theme of friendship that runs through so many movies featuring early SNL cast members, from "Animal House" to "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry". And the film succeeds in giving viewers a glimpse of a time, a world and a mindset with which they may well be unfamiliar -- surely one of the highest purposes of cinema. For these reasons, but especially the two central performances by the young, brilliant Bill Murray and the deeply missed Peter Boyle, "Where the Buffalo Roam" deserves two stars -- but no more.
As most of the other reviews have indicated, the DVD release of this movie features a modified soundtrack due to high licensing fees for the songs originally used. The viewer is given fair warning of this in small print on the back of the DVD case. Given "Where the Buffalo Roam"'s lack of critical and commercial success, it makes sense that Universal would release the film in a form that could be priced at only $9.99, allowing more viewers to take a chance on this unusual but fascinating movie. The DVD does feature the original soundtrack's most important song, Neil Young's rendition of "Home on the Range", which recurs repeatedly as the film's theme.
Movie Review: It's Not Hunter.
Summary: 2 Stars
First of all, I totally agree with those reviewers who think that Murray is great here because he definitely is. You can tell the winners at the starting gate, and, out of that original SNL crew, Murray was the only one with oodles of acting talent. However, he is really the lone redeeming element of the film. Furthermore, the person he plays is not Hunter S. Thompson--oh, he is in mannerisms and appearance--but not in essence. The idealism this Thompson possesses was not a trait to be found in the writer. Hunter's character was far more ambiguous than the person onscreen here. He wasn't a good time Charlie, and medicated himself for reasons which went far beyond personal pleasure. His suicide illustrates that he may have been far more disturbed than most of us realized. In my opinion, Johnny Depp's portrayal of Thompson was far more accurate because it elucidated his murky and anarchic qualities. After being paid off, the Gonzo Master got as far away from this production as he could.