Fear and Loathing is not an easy book to read, movie to watch, and topic to discuss. It’s a story of two of the worst characters you’ve ever seen, bumming around Vegas for a weekend, and raising all kinds of hell. Sticking to the movie version for the sake of my sanity and yours, Fear and Loathing the film is a visually chaotic opus of filmmaking. An adaptation so slavish in its recreation and reproduction that the result is as hard to swallow as its source. From the wild performances of our leads, to the bizarre and eccentric cinematography of director Terry Gilliam, the film is challenging to all 5 senses and then some. But that challenging nature is what makes it so goddamn fantastic. It’s the kind of project you either get with or you don’t. I can fully understand why the film did poorly upon its release in 98. The tone, style, and subject matter of Thompson’s work is so out of sync with late 90s culture I’m surprised it even got off the ground in the first place. Yet, I can’t imagine another version of this film existing, even though a few different versions were planned, one including Jack Nicholson in the lead (now that’s a casting choice!), because the assembled pieces here are just so goddamn invigorating.

Hunter S. Thompson himself said no one else could possibly play him after meeting Johnny Depp and I’m inclined to agree. Johnny Depp’s performance as Raoul Duke really cannot be understated. His mannerisms, his wiry, insane rants, his dry, poetic delivery of Thompson’s written prose, his goddamn physical acting with the way Duke walks, it’s all so goddamn perfect. Learning that his performance was heavily researched, approved by Thompson, and even included some of Thompon’s clothing and such as props really puts his performance above and beyond, for me. And even though he’s not a likable person at all, the wild delivery of Thompson’s clever writing still make him memorable. I had a nice chuckle reading the “this is bat country” line in the book but seeing Depp’s eyes dart around viciously before shouting “THIS IS BAT COUNTRY” though his teeth, gritting as he grips that cigarette, had me on the floor. Del Toro’s performance is memorable as well, but for different reasons. Dr. Gonzo was already a, let’s say, less than ethical character, and Del Toro’s performance really doesn’t do his reputation any favors. Gonzo is fierce, strange, intimidating, surly, and then some. He’s an enabler if you ask me, a person just as deranged as Raoul, with just as little direction or purpose other than existing and doing drugs, a means to his own end.

The film’s visual style oozes that drug fueled force of personality as well. I don’t know how true this is but I was informed that each drug was represented with a different visual choice. Change in color, lighting, lenses, angles, etc. I don’t have hard evidence of this but when you actually watch the film it becomes very believable. Dizzying angles, claustrophobic close ups, clashing colors, as I said, it’s a very visually chaotic film. That visual surrealism is backed up by Terry Gilliam’s knack for surrealist and absurdist comedy. I wouldn’t call Fear and Loathing the book a laugh out loud comedy, even though it is certainly funny, but the film goes the extra mile to make outright jokes and sketches out of certain scenes. Some write themselves, like the scene were the hotel manager screams at the cop for having a bad reservation while he continues to be berated, unaware of the outburst. The stand out for me, however, is the elevator scene, which punctuates this pretty tense and uncomfortable moment where Gonzo pulls a knife on an innocent man as the doors slide open and a couple awkwardly interrupts the scene. *Chiefs kiss* comedy timing perfection.

I think if there was some conclusion, some greater point I could make about Thompon’s work and the film itself, I think it would be experience triumphs over all. I had this thought while reading the drug conference scene. Raoul meditates on how stupid and outdated the material is, yet it’s being shown to a room full of cops as some great source of information that is supposed to save their lives and/or better their community. This scene made me think a lot about drugs and information about drugs. This might be hard or even outright eyerolling for people who don’t partake in narcotics to understand, but you really can’t fully grasp what drugs do to you until you try them yourself. All the visualizations, all the explanations, all the analogies, can’t really compare to being there in the moment, when your brain finally gives in and lets the substance of your choice take the wheel. That’s basically the essence of Thompson’s Gonzo Journalism. You can’t beat experience. Experience is worthwhile, no matter what it is, and the human reaction to experience is just as worthwhile. To put it another way, experiencing Fear and Loathing, consuming it, reacting to it, letting it do its thing is far more worthwhile than simply hearing what other people say about it.