"We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a saltshaker half-full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, laughers, screamers... Also, a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls."
Watching Fear and Loathing with a buddy a few days ago got me thinking. Have I ever seen the film sober? It's just that kind of movie, a hallucinogen all in itself and a film some folks can only GET if under the influence of something. I do believe it's a great movie and what director Terry Gilliam has done is absolutely brilliant. It's become a cult classic- a movie perfectly suited for the midnight crowd. It's Gilliam's most misunderstood picture and is -to this day- still highly snubbed by te mainstream. "I want it to be seen as one of the great movies of all time, and one of the most hated movies of all time" exclaimed Gilliam before the film's release. It's definitely not a perfect film- in fact it's quite messy and has no real structure, but there's ambition in that statement and it's that same ambition that makes me like it.
Depp plays Gonzo Journalist Hunter S. Thompson, whom in 1970- as the Vietnam war was headed to its prime- went on a road trip to Nevada with his Attorney Oscar Zeta Acosta. Thompson was supposed to cover a motorcycle race and bring back a 500 word piece with mostly photographs- instead he goes to Vegas with Acosta and uses every possible drug known to man. Trippy doesn't even begin to describe the film- it's more than that, it's a document of a time far gone and a surreality that most of us will never get to. It's a social document of a time when America was it's worst and was assaulted with paranoia by its government- still sounds relevant to this day.