Review of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) by Joe W — 18 Sep 2012
Not the easiest film to follow but watchable. Getting Terry Gilliam to direct this film was a stroke of genius. His visuals are very impressive. If Salvador Dali was a filmmaker, he would be like Gilliam.
Johnny Depp's performance is brilliant and difficult. Try to do an impression of the character, IT IS HARD!!! The character he plays, Raoul Duke is based on Hunter S. Thompson. Depp actually spent 3 months with him learning is characteristics and personality. Depp and Thompson were friends till the day Thompson sadly killed himself.
Benicio Del Toro is also on top form playing a complete monster who, although he never harms anyone, is extremely threatening. Because of his role in this movie, Del Toro has trouble finding work.
As I mentioned above, the film is EXTREMELY hard to follow. I've seen it 12 times and still don't understand every aspect of it. But I did enjoy Raoul and Gonzo's love hate relationship and the drug sequences. This film features the hardest drug use I've seen in any film.
The marketing on this film was poor. How do you market a film like this and will anyone want to go see it? Not everyone is familiar with the source material or Thompson. Twelve Monkeys was a box office hit and ever since then, Gilliam hasn't made another hit since.
But film buffs, Gilliam fans, Depp fans, Thompson fans and doctors writing about drug use (hopefully not drug addicts) discovered this film on video and DVD.
This review of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) was written by Joe W on 18 Sep 2012.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas has generally received positive reviews.
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