Bat country ahead.
Well, here we are again, smack bang in the middle of the working week scratching our heads trying to figure out how to spend our time tonight. Forget about getting on top of your weekly chores, forget about studying, forget about cooking – tonight’s the night you order in some takeaway and (re)watch Terry Gilliam’s film, based on Hunter S. Thompson’s book, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
The gonzo-biographical film follows Johnny Depp as Raoul Drake and Benecio Del Toro as his lawyer Dr. Gonzo as they embark on a drug-fuelled bender in Las Vegas in search of the “American Dream”. Critics hated it and it failed at the box office, but Depp and Del Toro’s performances thrust it into the pop culture canon, with the iconic highway bat scene replicated and mimicked countless times.
It certainly isn’t for everyone – if you’ve got your partner’s parents stopping over this evening, I wouldn’t recommend popping it on for light entertainment – but it’s certainly worthy of a (re)watch. Check below for five reasons why you should take this trip tonight:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m662obIvhY
The best ever cameo ever.
Flea, you may know him as the kooky bass player from Red Hot Chili Peppers, but he also acts… kinda. Here he plays a hippie who licks drugs off Raoul Drake’s sweater in a flashback. It’s one of those tiny cameos that is somehow elevated by the fact that the person is already a star. Bravo Flea:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7QIftsM46U
*Also, shoutout to Tobey Maguire’s equally as strange cameo as the shit-scared hitchhiker:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5J2CL10Wzc
It actually feels like an acid trip.
Waves of anxiety broken up between colourful euphoric highs, weirdness, laughter, constantly trying to find direction and figure it out, ultimately ending in the same point that it began – if you had to explain to someone what acid feels like, this film would be a pretty good guide.
Sound advice on how to deal with a highway cop.
“Never pull over with the first siren-howl. Mash it down and make the bastard chase you at speeds up to 120 all the way to the next exit. He will follow.” Classic Hunter S. Thompson banter that anyone who’s read his books like Kingdom Of Fear will be well and truly familiar with.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwDlobymMk0
The locations.
The bright lights of vegas, cush 60s hotel rooms, crowded gaming floors – the locations scouted for the film elevate the film’s quirkiness perfectly, making it feel like you’re entering into a hyper-stylised parallel universe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6kFCNsnQpQ
Del Toro for the win.
While Depp spent a few months living with Thomspon prior to filming in order to nail his paranoid and erratic character, it’s Benicio Del Toro who steals each scene with his portrayal of Dr. Gonzo being perfectly creepy and darkly funny. Even though he’s picked up a handful of accolades, it still feels like he’s one of the world’s most underrated actors.
