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movie review - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

This is the insane and loosely-factual telling of a two week period in "our foul year of the Lord 1971" when Hunter S Thompson went to Las Vegas on first one assignment and then another only to live a life of such excess that it would take on the sort of mythical status that they make a movie 25 years later. It's up to the viewer to decide what's real, of course and it's worth bearing in mind that with Terry Gilliam behind the camera it's anybody's guess at the best of times. Johnny Depp nails the lead role, and the supporting cast - led by the always credible Benicio Del Toro - fills out the story with precision. I mean it takes a lot of work to pull off being that far gone. One scene that's stuck with me from all the madness is where Hunter comes in on "his lawyer" (a real-life lawyer friend who would three years later disappear from the face of the Earth) is in the tub demanding that Hunter toss in the radio at the foot of the tub. It would potentially kill his friend, but the conversation starts with:

Raoul Duke : Oh god... did you eat all this acid?

Dr. Gonzo : That's right. MUSIC!

Strongly recommended. If you have a taste for drug-fueled madness from another era. This is some of Gilliam's best work, and certainly Depp's.