Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas – So Much Loathing
Usually, when writing reviews, I have to be careful about not giving away too many plot details. I don’t have to worry about that when writing about Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas because there is no plot.
Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo, his attorney, go to Las Vegas to do a story on a motorcycle race. They rent a convertible, take drugs and go on a series of misadventures. They throw fruit at each other, take drugs, drive around Vegas and worry constantly about the police. This is a weird movie, a very weird movie.
There are some interesting visual elements to be found in the film, such as the scene where Duke hallucinates that hotel lobby is filled with giant reptiles. Duke also imagines that the racetrack is a battlefield, that bats attack him as he drives down the road and that Dr. Gonzo is some kind of horned beast.
Johnny Depp’s performance as Duke is memorable. He looks and sounds like a drug-using madman. His narration over the film provides some interesting insights about such things as how to deal with being pulled over by the police.
The characters are anything but likable and their misadventures aren’t all that fun to watch. While the occasional drug-induced visions can be mildly interesting, the film’s overall lack of a coherent narrative makes it hard to sit through. The whole film is just a series of random stupid things happening.
The film is directed by Terry Gilliam. Some people see Terry Gilliam as a brilliant surrealist filmmaker; I am not one of those people. I have always had a hard time with Terry Gilliam’s films. They always looked and felt like they had been at least partly influenced by drugs. This could be his weirdest film yet.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas has become a cult classic among certain moviegoers. Being a cult classic does not make a film good; even Plan 9 From Outer Space, considered one of the worst films of all time, has become a cult classic. I can see how some people might find this film to be interesting because of its uniqueness, but the film’s complete lack of overall substance makes it an utterly miserable excuse for a film to the average moviegoer.
I am sure that fans of the film will disagree with me about the film’s quality and value, but that doesn’t change the fact that I found this to be an utterly uninspiring failure of a movie. This film is not great piece of art; it’s a self-indulgent celebration of insanity. If you’re looking to watch something weird simply for the sake of being weird, then this might be the movie for you; if not, don’t bother.