Terry Gilliam has always done off-kilter projects - they seem to suit him. Fear and Loathing, in that respect, should be Gilliam's best fitting suit yet.
Adapting Rolling Stones' psychodelic-era journalist Hunter S. Thompson's "novel" of the same name, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is just under two hours of complete (and I mean complete) drug-infused mania.
The film recaps the supposedly true-to-life tale of Thompson and his Samoan lawyer's exploits in the glittery Nevada town, rolling around in rented cars loaded to the hilt with booze and drugs (both the car and the duo).
Completely hopped up over the duration of the trip on everything from ether to acid, the not so dynamic duo act very strange and say very strange things, then progress from strange into weirdness, then full-throttle psychotica, and finally to the ineveitable come down. Of course, the duo aren't ones to fall of the high horse (so to speak) and stay down. Even after a fantastical alcoholic merry-go-round, odd encounters with cops, hotel clerks, and a monkey, and an amphibious awakening, the two keep going... and that's the film's biggest downfall.
Blindingly bright visual after brash visual are thrust upon the viewer who is still attempting to make sense of what happened in the opening sequence. Cameo after cameo from well known actors are strewn throughout (including Cameron Diaz, Gary Busey, and Christina Ricci), and incredible and unbelievable scenereos are dispensed at a relentless pace - all of which leave the viewer little time to question whether there is really something behind this gonzo tale. But does that make it a bad film?
Johnny Depp (no stranger to the realm of off-kilter) is bang on in his portrayal of the (at times) psychotic Thompson, only hindered by the fact that he persistently delivers his lines with his jaw clenched and teeth clamped down on a cigarette filter (frequently making his verbals difficult to understand). Other performances from character actors and the second lead, Benicio DelToro, are all very good in context of the film, and Gilliam's direction, I can honestly say, has never been better. Again the problem lies in what resembles a two hour dilusion with no focus.
It is, however, an experience ulike any other I've experienced in a theatre. Like a freak show, you are naturally drawn to look and stare and take it all in, but at the same time you can't help but feel repulsed in some respect.
Fear and Loathing will eventually become a huge cult film, that I can forsee. It is not until after a few days have passed since viewing that you begin to think about all the strange events and how funny they are in hindsight. Then when you bump into others who have seen it, you begin to discuss and share the lunacy like it was a hectic thunderstorm you'd just lived through, and it becomes better and funnier. In the end, it's not a waste of time.