The actor nails the well-known mannerisms while adding a vocabulary of behavior for the man behind the legend, like private moments of self-doubt or times spent with his young son. He does Hunter S. Thompson like Johnny Weissmuller did Tarzan: with precision and potency. Weissmuller did twelve Tarzan pictures, and we need Jay Bulger to do at least twelve Thompson pictures. Ten of them could be adapted from material solely from Thompson’s collection The Great Shark Hunt; it’s over 700 pages long, in tiny print!
The villain of Fear and Loathing in Aspen is gentrification, which is even more lethal now than it was then. Cheryl Hines perfectly portrays the greedy heavy of the picture. Instead of being obviously evil, Hines approaches the role as someone oblivious to how manipulative and vile they are. Most corporate slimeballs have no clue of the pain they’re causing the communities they grind up for pennies, and that is how Hines plays it. It is astonishing that Aspen, which is an unaffordable hive for the rich at this point, was once a place where freaks could run free and get by. This makes the struggle in the film, set 50 years ago, feel like it is the same battlefield we are in today.
“…looks so real you can smell the counterculture…”
The screenplay understands the parallels between both eras and milks them like an amphetamine farmer. Kennedy III also wonderfully directs the film like it is a true early 70s production, with natural framing for the actors, reminiscent of John Cassavettes films. It looks so real you can smell the counterculture, weed, sweat, and some Fritos.
A jarring aspect of Fear and Loathing in Aspen is how much of what was outlaw back then is mainstream now. Herbal Americans are no longer hunted for sport in Colorado, as marijuana is now legal for all in the state. We may not be in the world Thompson envisioned (yet), but a lot of the underground has risen to the surface over the last few years. As the writer demonstrated, the freak shall inherit the earth. So saddle up for anarchy and get set for a ride, as this delivers another great Hunter S. Thompson movie to keep the weird fire alight.
"…saddle up for anarchy..."
