Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS is a whirlwind of a movie, a wacky, drug-laden story backed by a fist-pumping rock & roll soundtrack featuring everything from Wayne Newton and Tom Jones to Combustible Edison and Dead Kennedys. Journalist Raoul Duke (Johnny Depp) heads to Las Vegas to cover a motorcycle race, bringing along his Samoan lawyer, Dr. Gonzo (Benicio Del Toro), in this furious adaptation of the book by Hunter S. Thompson. It is 1971, and Duke and Gonzo are on their way to Sin City with a frightened hitchhiker (a nearly unrecognizable Tobey Maguire) and a trunkful of drugs, which they ingest nonstop. Director Terry Gilliam, a master of complex, bizarre visual imagery, has a field day interpreting the drug-hazed world in which Duke and Gonzo reside
Four Days, Three nights, Two Convertibles, One City
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Since I'm a fan of both Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro, I don't know why I had never seen this movie before. They are both great actors who don't worry about their vanity. And for some reason I didn't expect this movie to be funny, I was wrong, oh so wrong.
ReplyDeleteTo say this movie is a trip would be an understatement. You just knew this was no regular road trip movie once they entered bat country! There are parts of the movie that are just painful to watch. Granted, they are high throughout the movie, but there are moments when they are higher than any human should ever be and you wonder how in the hell they are possibly going to make it through.
I think the director made great use of visuals to make you feel as unsure of what was really going on as the characters were. And Johnny and Benicio prove that you don’t have to say anything to be funny, their mannerisms alone are enough to make you laugh. I may never walk down a hotel hallway the same way again!
Two things I now know because of this movie
1. Fruit can and should be used to subdue someone who is talking crazy talk.
2. Getting off a moving carousel can be a bitch.
Great critics choice Crital Mazz!
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas = Thumbs up!
I thought it was great! I'm never disappointed with how Johnny gets into character and Benicio, wow! For me, his character made the movie.
ReplyDeleteI really don't know where to start, I just thought it was hilarious, I mean from the bathtub scene, ether binge, rotating bar...this stuff cracked me up!
I did have problems following along after Benicio's character flew back, I was kind of confused as to if he was really there or if Johnny's character imagined it all. But that did nothing to detract from the movie for me.
I got a kick out of seeing all those other actors in the movie too. All around, I thought it was a great movie, it was a fun way to spend a few hours, have some good laughs and and see two great actors get into character. I mean, really, where the hell did Benicio's belly come from? Too funny.
Thumbs up and I"d definitely recommend it-
Ah Johnny Depp. For a long time I stayed away from the movie based only on the movie poster (http://ztatic.net/grphx/lit/fear%20and%20loathing%20in%20las%20vegas1.jpg). Based on that photo I figured it was going to be a dark, serious, introspective look into the world of heavy drug use and the disintegration of the main character.
ReplyDeleteWell, I was way off. While it was based around some serious drug use - the movie was hilarious. As it progressed, especially (as Sunflower mentioned) after Duke (Depp) called Gonzo (Del Toro) from the middle of nowhere and Gonza asked what the hell he was doing in the middle of the desert. Anyway, it was a funny movie. I will have to watch it again at some point because some of the dialogue was hard to catch because they were hammered all the time. The interesting thing is, no matter how hammered they were, Dukes thoughts were always in perfect English, even if he couldn't produce the words...which added to the humor.
Good movie - thumbs up - as your attorney I advise you to watch this movie with a cocktail or two.
ok i finally watched this movie.. all i have to say is WTF?! i'm still trying to figure this movie out.. i think all i got out of it was.. Johnny Depp has really skinny legs lmao! yeah not a movie i will ever watch again. thanks but no thanks..
ReplyDeletepeace out biotches!