BEFORE: Bill Murray stars in tonight's film, but there's something of a connection to Johnny Depp, who played Hunter S. Thompson's alter-ego, Raoul Duke, in the "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" film. Most of what I know about Thompson, which admittedly isn't much, comes from that film, and the other character (loosely) based on him, Uncle Duke from the Doonesbury comic strip.
THE PLOT: Semi-biographical film based on the experiences of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson.
AFTER: Finally, an author who uses an electric typewriter! An IBM Selectric, to be exact. Of course, Thompson also uses a cassette recorder for dictation, various video and audio equipment, a case of gin, a fifth of tequila some peyote and 12 grapefruits...
This film is neatly divided into three flashback sections - detailing Thompson's reporting on the prosecution of hippies in San Francisco for minor drug possession offenses, his wild partying during the 1972 Super Bowl, and his work for Rolling Stone reporting from the 1972 Presidential campaign.
During, the first segment we're introduced to Thompson's former attorney, Carl Lazlo, who is waging a crusade against the unfair sentences given to S.F. hippies - and then Lazlo turns up during the other 2 segments, like a bad penny, to disrupt the "serious" reporting that Thompson was hired to do. Though it's doubtful that he would have been focused on the matter at hand, anyway. One could even make the argument that perhaps Lazlo is not real in the later sections of the film - perhaps he's just a figment of Thompson's imagination, or a hallucination that convinces him to ditch his assignment. (Too many drugs? Or not enough?)
There's no question about whether Thompson led an interesting life, and a surreal lifestyle. No book or movie could probably come close to detailing half the crazy stuff the guy got away with - and what we do know is probably pieced together from facts, eyewitness accounts, and wild conjecture. But is this film coherent? Not really, but that's sort of the point.
If you want to play along at home, you can have fun just by adding "gonzo" to your job title. Why be an accountant when you can be a gonzo accountant? Gonzo lawyer, gonzo fireman - it's fun, you try it! Or do what I do - when you talk to your boss, try to begin every sentence with, "As your attorney, I advise you to..."
Also starring Peter Boyle (last seen in "The Dream Team"), Bruno Kirby (last seen in "Hoffa"), Rene Auberjonois, Mark Metcalf (Neidermeyer from "Animal House" and the Maestro from "Seinfeld") and a quick cameo from Craig T. Nelson.
RATING: 4 out of 10 press passes (still better than "Fear and Loathing", though)
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