Thoughts on Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

 

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"... I think we've now gone down that road for so long that I don't know what dreams are left, but you need them. I get the feeling that especially younger people want something to get involved with. Now, I don't know if this film does that or not, but at least it says that there was a time when you did that. You could behave 'badly.'"

-- director Terry Gilliam, A.V. Club, 1998

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, adapted from Hunter S. Thompson's book by Gilliam, et. al*, might just be the movie that once and for all buried "the '60s." Despite being overdue and overdone, it was still one hell of a funeral. The 1971 journey by journalist Raoul Duke (Johnny Depp) and attorney Dr. Gonzo (Benicio del Toro), presented to 1998 audiences and watched by me for the first time in 2022, really didn't say anything that wasn't already apparent on the day after Nixon got elected. The squares won. They're tacky, stuffy and frightening to contemplate in depth, but they had the car keys. If that doesn't make you want to live in filth ...

*Gilliam & Tony Grisoni are credited along with Tod Davies & Alex Cox, although according to Gilliam, none of Davies & Cox's actual material was used.

Readers, is Fear and Loathing the original sin on Depp's resume? Does the line to all those films where the eccentricity eventually overshadowed Johnny's talent and star quality start or continue here? I can't call Fear and Loathing a movie that delights in making its leading man look bad, since everyone and everything with the exception of Cameron Diaz is filmed unflatteringly. This is one ugly movie. I suppose the squalor works. Gilliam and Thompson** chronicle some of the lowest elements of personal behavior and American culture. In-universe, the jury is out as to who's more offensive, Duke and Gonzo or the Silent Majority.

**I've never actually read the book, but I doubt that I'm wrong here.

"With a bit of luck, his life was ruined forever -- always thinking that just behind some narrow door in all of his favorite bars, men in red woolen shirts are getting incredible kicks from things he'll never know."

It's interesting that Gilliam initially considered Universal Pictures' request to have Fear and Loathing take place in the 1990s rather than 1971. He ultimately refused because it would have just been a story about two guys over-indulging. Here, it's two guys over-indulging as the world goes to hell. Yes, that's quite exclusive to 1971 ... I also see that Circus Circus Las Vegas refused to let its name be used. What a shame. It's not like anyone couldn't figure out what hotel and casino was being satirized. Also, it would have been great if they (or Binion's, successor to the Mint, or the Flamingo) turned around and trolled Thompson. "Come enjoy our 'Fun and Loathing' package! Put our houskeeping staff to the test! Match wits against our revolving bar! It's a hep world here!"

Several reviewers consider Gonzo threatening to kill a waitress (Ellen Barkin) as Fear and Loathing's point of no return. The scene's upleasant, yes, especially in light of Barkin having testified against ex-boyfriend Depp in his recently completed as of this writing defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard. But I do question that particular moment being the last straw. Were people not paying attention to Duke and Gonzo's behavior up to then? Anyway, I can now say that I've seen Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Like an earlier 1998 release, The Big Lebowski, this is another movie that if you're not completely for it, you're against it.

"Know your dope fiend. You will not be able to see his eyes because of tea shades, but his knuckles will be white from inner tension and his pants will be crusted with semen from constantly jacking off when he can't find a rape victim."

Not Recommended.

Thoughts:
-- "Lucy is an artist. Lucy paints portraits of Barbra Streisand."

-- Box Office: Grossing nearly $10.7 million domestically on an $18 million budget, this opened at No. 3 and came in at No. 121 for 1998.

-- Awards Watch: Fear and Loathing struck out at both Cannes and the Stinkers Awards. At the former, it lost the Palme d'Or to Eternity and a Day. At the later, Depp & del Toro lost Worst Couple to Ben Affleck & Liv Tyler for Armageddon and del Toro lost Worst Supporting Actor to Daniel Baldwin for Vampires.

-- Critic's Corner, the movie: "As a mediation on the death of the '60s, (it's) irrevent, funny, and strangely touching," Nathan Rabin, A.V. Club, wrote in 2003. "(It) rarely gives the book's appalingly funny anecdotes room to breath," Stephen Holden, New York Times, claimed upon Fear and Loathing's release. Stephen Hunter, Washington Post: "The famous Thompson work, long said to be unfilmable, turns out to be something far worse: unendurable." "(It) scarcely seems to remember that the writer's ravings were, at least, supposed to be funny," wrote David Kronke, Los Angeles Times. Roger Ebert was also unimpressed. "A horrible mess of a movie, without shape, trajectory or purpose -- a one joke movie, if it had one joke," he wrote. "Witless, hysterical, monotonous, inexplicable, and excruciating," according to Owen Gleiberman.

-- Critic's Corner, Terry: "Who better, then, to trip over the landmarks of history than ... a director who frequently ignores common sense to follow his muse?" Joshua Klein, A.V. Club, asked in 1998. "(His stylistic genius can't be doubted," Hunter acknowledged. "He does nightmares brilliantly, and his imagery is as vivid as any scene from Hieronymus Bosch." "Short of a time machine, Gilliam does what he can to bring the era back to life," Scott Tobias, A.V. Club, wrote in 2011. "His success is unqualified; just please don't make me sit through it again."

-- Critic's Corner, Johnny: "Depp's sweet face belies the rage and dementia in Thompson's words," Noel Murray, A.V. Club, wrote in 2013. "The man's loathing has always been easy to grasp; Depp gets beneath the fear." Todd McCarthy, Variety, felt that while Depp's performance never got beyond one-dimensional, it was still fascinating. "(It) recalls Red Skelton's Clem Kadiddlehopper," Duane Byrge declared in The Hollywood Reporter. Gleiberman called Depp's performance physically daring. "He suggests Jack Webb in the body of Groucho Marx. The trouble is, he barely seems human."

-- Hey, It's ...!: Besides Barkin and Diaz and in no particular order, we have Tobey Maguire, Mark Harmon, Penn Jillette, Lyle Lovett, Flea, Gary Busey, Harry Dean Stanton and Christina Ricci (back so soon!). The cameos, according to Kronke, had "no real effect except to add to (the players') own hipness quotients." In addition to the folks named by Kronke, there's Katherine Helmond, Craig Bierko, Tim Thomerson, Richard Riehle (his third appearance in The Films of 1998!), Laraine Newman, Verne Troyer, Gregory Itzin, Troy Evans, Chris Meloni, Michael Jeter, Jenette Goldstein, the voice of Debbie Reynolds and Hunter S. Thompson himself.

-- "May I have a little kiss before you go? I'm very lonely here."

-- Next: Godzilla. On deck: Almost Heroes.