Where the Buffalo Roam **** (1980, Peter Boyle, Bill Murray, Bruno Kirby, René Auberjonois, R G Armstrong, Rafael Campos, Leonard Frey) – Classic Movie Review 10,239

Director Art Linson’s 1980 Where the Buffalo Roam stars Bill Murray as the spaced-out, drug-addicted gonzo journalist Hunter S Thompson and Peter Boyle as his unorthodox attorney Oscar Acosta (here called Carl Lazlo) in this striking and lively movie of Thompson’s supposedly true autobiographical tales, set around the 1972 Superbowl and and the 1972 Presidential election, which Thompson tries to cover in his typical drug-crazed state,.

Keeping true to Thompson’s spirit, début director Art Linson and screenplay writer John Kaye score some good, offbeat laughs with this freewheeling, oddball material swathed in a dark cloak. With Murray and Boyle excellent, the cast’s valiant efforts, Tak Fujimoto’s striking cinematography and Neil Young’s music are all very considerable, undeniable pluses, and the material exerts a definite off-centre appeal.

It runs 99 minutes. Beware the TV version that is a weakly toned-down affair. Because of music licensing issues, the Anchor Bay and Universal VHS and DVD releases have new songs. The 2017 Blu-ray release from Shout! Factory has the original soundtrack, restoring  I Can’t Help Myself by the Four Tops, Highway 61 by Bob Dylan, Papa Was a Rolling Stone by the Temptations, and All Along the Watchtower and Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix.

John Kaye’s screenplay is based on the stories Fear and Loathing at the Superbowl and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72 by Hunter S Thompson.

More of Hunter S Thompson followed in 1997’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.as well as in director Alex Gibney’s documentary Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr Hunter S Thompson (2008)

Also in the cast are Peter Boyle, Bill Murray, Bruno Kirby, René Auberjonois, R G Armstrong, Rafael Campos, Leonard Frey, Mark Metcalf, Craig T Nelson, Quinn K Redeker, Jon Shear [Jon Matthews], Joseph Ragno, Danny Tucker, Susan Kellerman, Danny Goldman, , Leonard Gaines, Otis Day [De Wayne Jessie], Lisa Taylor and Caesar Cordova.

RIP Caesar Cordova, who was born on 16 May 1936 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and died on 26 August 2020 in Atlantic City. He was also known for Carlito’s Way (1993), Scarface (1983), Nighthawks (1981), Where the Buffalo Roam, Cutter’s Way and Sharks’ Treasure (1975).

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,239

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