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hunter s .
thompson 's fear and loathing in las vegas , written in 1971 , is already an american classic ; not merely because it was an unadulterated journey through the post - psychedelia of the 1960 's , but also because it ushered in a new form of journalism known as " gonzo " .
soon after the book was written , hunter s .
thomspon became the basis for a character in doonesbury known as uncle duke .
and that is the problem with fear and loathing in las vegas ( the movie . )
although the book is one of my favorites , i now agree with thompson 's own assessment of the novel as " unfilmable .
"
the main problem is that the book , although detailing wild drug use and tripped - out adventures , was not written on the road .
it was written and edited by hunter s . thomspons , relatively sober , at his home .
so although the book depicts drug use and still more drug use , it is told with a sense of aloofness and some humor .
hunter s .
thomspon , the narrator , while always drugged out , still has a grip on reality , and can still tell , with journalistic ability , what is going on around him .
not so with the characters in fear and loathing in las vegas .
despite name changes and one minor scene from the book dropped , the movie is an exact duplicate of the book , in terms of dialouge .
unfortunately , this can get annoying , in the form of johnny depp 's ( who plays thompson ) excessive narration .
and the characters , while having vivid personalities , are played as 2-d characers on the screen : dr .
raoul duke ( johnny depp
, the name raoul duke was an alias of thompson 's ) and his riding companion , dr .
gonzo
( benicio del toro ) , who is a large samoan lawyer , have no personalities or emotions at all , save for stoned .
the film is very faithful to the plot ( what there is ) of the book , in that dr .
raoul duke is sent by sports illustrated to cover the mint 400 , and takes along not only his samoan lawyer but also car trunk full of drugs .
from there , one set of stoned adventures after another happens , including one of the few good scenes in which depp , high on acid , watches all the people in the bar around him turn into , literally , lounge lizards .
while the movie has its moments ( few ) , it is almost unwatchable at parts , especially towards the end .
despite a lot of celebrity cameos , the stars never get off the ground .
the set decoration and costumes are great , and probably deserve an oscar nomination .
however , as we all know , it 's not sets or effects that make a movie , its the characters ; and quite frankly , these characters are no good .
these characters are no good it is almost unwatchable at parts this can get annoying played as 2-d characers excessive narration the stars never get off the ground