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Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Adventure · Drama · Comedy · 1998

Raoul Duke and his attorney Dr. Gonzo drive a red convertible across the Mojave desert to Las Vegas with a suitcase full of drugs to cover a motorcycle race. As their consumption of drugs increases at an alarming rate, the stoned duo trash their hotel room and fear legal repercussions. Duke begins to drive back to L.A., but after an odd run-in with a cop, he returns to Sin City and continues his wild drug binge.

Movie details

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

“Buy the ticket, take the ride.”

1998 Adventure · Drama · Comedy 1h 58m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

7.5 / 10

316.1K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

50 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

41 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

7.2 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

Raoul Duke and his attorney Dr. Gonzo drive a red convertible across the Mojave desert to Las Vegas with a suitcase full of drugs to cover a motorcycle race. As their consumption of drugs increases at an alarming rate, the stoned duo trash their hotel room and fear legal repercussions. Duke begins to drive back to L.A., but after an odd run-in with a cop, he returns to Sin City and continues his wild drug binge.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Terry Gilliam

Written by

Terry Gilliam · Tod Davies · Tony Grisoni · Alex Cox

Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp

Raoul Duke

Benicio del Toro

Benicio del Toro

Dr. Gonzo

Tobey Maguire

Tobey Maguire

Hitchhiker

Michael Lee Gogin

Michael Lee Gogin

Uniformed Dwarf

Larry Cedar

Larry Cedar

Car Rental Agent - Los Angeles

B

Brian Le Baron

Parking Attendant

Katherine Helmond

Katherine Helmond

Desk Clerk at Mint Hotel

Court is in session

Put Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.