Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas **** (1998, Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro) – Classic Movie Review 1631

Game as always for anything smart and out of the ordinary, Johnny Depp gives an impressively crazed performance as blunt-talking journalist Raoul Duke in co-writer/director Terry Gilliam’s imaginative, stylish, sometimes exciting 1998 movie of Hunter S Thompson’s psychedelic classic book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Duke is of course a thinly disguised self-portrait of Thompson. Benicio Del Toro provides a great support turn as Depp’s large, wacky Samoan lawyer companion, Dr Gonzo. The duo are on a road trip to Las Vegas in their convertible called The Red Shark to report to a convention of district attorneys, fuelled only by a collection of almost every illegal drug going and enough alcohol to fill an ocean liner. En route, they find hitchhikers, cops, newsmen and gamblers, plus fear and loathing, and not the American Dream they are pursuing.

Thompson’s book is essentially unfilmable, but Gilliam has a great go at it and comes up with an eye-popping movie. The movie is strong stuff, taking no prisoners, and its hippy embracing of the 70s drug culture may of course offend some people or at least not be to everyone’s taste. It is rated R for pervasive extreme drug use and related bizarre behaviour, strong language and brief nudity.

There is an unbeatable cast to support the stars: Tobey Maguire, Ellen Barkin, Gary Busey, Christina Ricci, Mark Harmon, Cameron Diaz, Katherine Helmond, Michael Jeter, Penn Jillette, Craig Bierko, Lyle Lovett, Flea, Laraine Newman, Harry Dean Stanton and Tim Thomerson.

The cast are Johnny Depp as Raoul Duke, Benicio del Toro as Dr Gonzo, Tobey Maguire as The Hitchhiker, Christina Ricci as Lucy, Ellen Barkin as The Waitress at North Star Cafe, Gary Busey as Highway Patrolman H Sulliven, Mark Harmon as Magazine Reporter at Mint 400, Cameron Diaz as Blonde TV Reporter, Katherine Helmond as Desk Clerk at Mint Hotel, Michael Jeter as Dr L Ron Bumquist, Craig Bierko as Lacerda, Lyle Lovett as The Road Person, Flea as Hippie, Larry Cedar as LA Car Rental Agent, Tim Thomerson as Hoodlum, Richard Riehle as Dune Buggy Driver, Richard Portnow as Wine Coloured Tuxedo, Steve Schirripa as Goon, Larry Brandenburg as Cop in Back, Jennifer Elise Cox as Shopper, Kim Flowers as Lizard Performer, Tane McClure as Lizard Performer, Christopher Meloni as Flamingo Hotel Clerk Sven, Harry Dean Stanton as The Judge, Troy Evans as Police Chief, Debbie Reynolds as Herself (voice), Jenette Goldstein as Alice the Maid, Verne Troyer as Wee Waiter, Gregory Itzin as Mint Hotel Clerk, Laraine Newman as Frog-Eyed Woman, Penn Jillette as Bazooko Circus Barker, and Hunter S Thompson as Older Raoul Duke in Matrix flashback.

Gregory Itzin as Mint Hotel Clerk enjoys a memorable scene opposite Johnny Depp.

Gregory Itzin died on 8 July 2022, aged 74.

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1631

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