| To tell the truth, I saw this movie over a week ago - I just haven't been able to decide how I felt about it. On one hand, I have never taken a hallucinogenic, so I am pretty sure I missed something pretty important (and yet, I have missed nothing but near-death experiences, apparently). |
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On another hand, I can't imagine anyone more suited to taking another person's autobiographical relation of an unreal experience and making it real than director Terry Gilliam. Terry, you may recall, gave us Brazil, 12 Monkeys, and a slew of other enduring image bombardments.
On yet another hand (a twisting, gore-stained hallucination of a third hand), the movie really goes nowhere. Of course we don't expect a standard narrative with exposition, conflict, change, denouement, or what have you, in a situation like this - but at the same time, acting, production values, and sheer spectacle can only take you so far watching a movie. |
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| At no point was I bored, disinterested, or even all that alienated. One person I saw it with thought the novelty wore off and it went 30 minutes too long. Johnny Depp, as usual, is just great. I don't know anything about Hunter S. Thompson, but I do know Depp, and I believe I was in those hotel rooms with Thompson. Depp bravely goes bald, bowlegged, and way skinny, as Benecio Del Toro goes hugely paunchy. By shedding their original sexy guy images, Del Toro and Depp gave us some serious acting. |
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I was terrified by the constant peril Dr. Gonzo and Thompson put themselves in, and yet drawn to it, like an accident scene. I cannot recommend chemical enhancement before viewing the movie - it would be a disservice to the work of the production staff to foil their attempts at creating a seriously trippy flick.
It seems almost redundant to take hallucinogens in Las Vegas, but I'm telling you, nothing could be scarier than the alterna-Circus Circus that they built for the film. And I mean nothing. Even sober. If anyone out there has seen the sideshow themed CD Rom that The Residents put out, just paste in Depp and tilt the angle a bit and you have an idea of what *some* of the movie is like. Then add another obscure bit of Peter Jackson work, Meet The Feebles, and you have a vague notion of what this movie is like. (I mean no disservice to director of photography Nicola Pecorini or production designer Alex McDovell) |
| To add to the surrealism (for the audience), Fear and Loathing is chock full of wacky random cameos - not like the Uberhip "look at me I'm a cameo" of most movies, but people I don't think have ever worked with Gilliam, Depp, or Del Toro before. Like Mark "Can you believe how hunky I am at this advanced age" Harmon. Yeah, you know, the guy from Summer School. |
| I was a tad disappointed in the soundtrack - it seemed like they used every song you would expect in a drug related movie set in 1971. Yep, they used the one you are thinking of right now. Yeah, yeah, that one too. But at the same time, every song *was* perfect. And, hey, there's a reason they are classics of the brown-acid set. On top of it all, it wasn't a painful soundtrack-pushing exercise in Forrest-Gumpistic commercialism. So it added nothing to the experience except a conscious awareness that it was a movie. But maybe that was the point - so Thompson fans, sitting in a mescaline and ether haze in the audience, can discern the film from their own chemically induced entertainment. But what do I know of these things? |
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The script, of course, was mostly from Hunter's writing in the moment, with of course shooting instructions stuck in - but I find it hard to believe anyone on distilled human adrenaline could possibly have the presence of mind to notate everything that happened. But the events are great and wild and alarming and entertaining. Isn't that what you want?
A great line, referring to our protagonists: They are "God's prototypes, not intended for mass production." I am told by a friend who saw the movie with me that they stuck faithfully to the book, so for those of you out there for which that is an issue, rest easy.
So if this is your cup of tea, spend some cash, grab a tub of corn, and enjoy. But if you would rather sit through your 7th viewing of Titanic *just in case* Leo makes it out alive this time, skip this movie altogether. |
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