Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

About the Film

In 1971, gonzo journalist Raoul Duke and his unhinged “attorney” Dr. Gonzo roar into the Nevada desert in a red convertible — the trunk loaded with an absurd pharmacy of drugs — ostensibly to cover the Mint 400 motorcycle race for a magazine. The assignment is almost instantly forgotten as the pair plunge into a hallucinatory bender that leaves a trail of trashed hotel rooms and terrified bystanders behind them.

As the drugs distort every encounter into paranoia and grotesque comedy, Duke drifts through a second bogus assignment — a district-attorneys’ anti-drug convention — while trying to make sense of the wreckage of the 1960s counterculture. Adapted from Hunter S. Thompson’s landmark book, the film is less a plot than a savage, kaleidoscopic ride through the wreckage of the American Dream.

Plot synopsis by johnny-depp.org.

Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp plays Raoul Duke, Hunter S. Thompson’s alter ego — bucket hat, aviator shades, cigarette holder clamped in his teeth and a rolling, mumbled narration. To nail it, Depp actually moved into Thompson’s Owl Farm home for months, absorbing his walk, speech and mannerisms (and even shaving his head to match). The result is an uncanny, physically committed impersonation that Thompson himself enthusiastically endorsed, and one of Depp’s most beloved cult roles.

Cast & Crew

Cast

Raoul DukeJohnny Depp

Dr. GonzoBenicio del Toro

HitchhikerTobey Maguire

LucyChristina Ricci

Blonde TV ReporterCameron Diaz

Highway PatrolmanGary Busey

WaitressEllen Barkin

Crew

DirectorTerry Gilliam

ScreenplayTerry Gilliam & Tony Grisoni

Based on the book byHunter S. Thompson

MusicRay Cooper

CinematographyNicola Pecorini

ProducersLaila Nabulsi, Patrick Cassavetti, Stephen Nemeth

StudioUniversal Pictures

“We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold.”

— Raoul Duke, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Trivia

To prepare, Depp lived in Hunter S. Thompson’s Owl Farm basement for about four months and drove Thompson’s own red Chevrolet Caprice, “the Great Red Shark.”

Benicio del Toro gained more than 45 pounds in nine weeks to play Dr. Gonzo.

Terry Gilliam famously burned his Writers Guild card in protest over the screenplay credit dispute.

Thompson reportedly loved the film, reacting at the premiere by jumping up and cheering.

Awards

1998 Russian Guild of Film Critics — Best Foreign Actor (Johnny Depp) Won

1999 Cognac Festival du Film Policier — nominated (Grand Prize)