Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

Originally Written

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is another one of those Terry Gilliam "cult classic" films that I will never understand the popularity of. And the tag of "cult classic" is literally beginning to make be think you have to have a couple of screws loose in your head to actually enjoy some of these films, which is probably where the name "cult classic" came from, since cults are usually looked at as a bunch of people off their rocker.

First off, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas has no plot, no flow, and no story. It follows Raoul (Johnny Depp) and Acosta (Benicio Del Torro) as they go on a drug binge in Las Vegas. The film never makes any sense, I doubt its supposed to, and if you attempt to follow what's going on you'll get a headache, or fall asleep from the pure chaotic boredom of the film. I was able to make it through about 35 minutes, then went fast forward through the rest and never stopped. The film keeps going at the same uneventful drudge for two and a half hours! You literally either have to be fried out of your mind from years of drug abuse or extremely high at the time, that's the only way I can see anyone liking this mess. Aside from the brief Tobey Maguire scene at the beginning which was kind of humorous, because of his goofy long hair, don't waste your time on this. It's a waste of a lot of talented actors in a film where acting isn't needed. I could have seen this as being popular by the drug induced hippies of the 60's, but how this film is loved by so many people today is truly a mystery to me.

1/10