Part of Midnight Movies
Fri, Nov 27 at Midnight: Introduction from musician and Belcourt staff member Coley Hinson | BUY TICKETS
It is 1971, and journalist Raoul Duke barrels toward Las Vegas—accompanied by a trunkful of contraband and his slightly unhinged Samoan attorney, Dr. Gonzo—to cover a motorcycle race. What should be a cut-and-dried journalistic assignment quickly descends into a feverish psychedelic odyssey. Director Terry Gilliam and an all-star cast, headlined by Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro, show no mercy in bringing Hunter S. Thompson’s excoriating dissection of the American way of life to the screen, creating a film both hilarious and savage. (Synopsis from Criterion Collection)
“Gilliam captures the chaotic visions of debauchery with his trademark aplomb, bringing to life the already trippy patterns of hotel carpets and populating the dark bars of Vegas with genuinely reptilian lounge lizards.” —Joshua Klein, The A.V. Club “FEAR AND LOATHING does for psychedelics what BOOGIE NIGHTS does for cocaine; displaying in graphical detail the ultimate failure of drugs as an escape route. You feel the psychic thud as our anti-heroes hit bottom…. A sort of psychedelic action film. It’s a blast, but I wouldn’t want to be there, either.” —Anthony Miele, Film Threat (Jun 1, 1998)
