Johnny Depp: 5 Awesome Performances & 5 That Sucked

3. Raoul Duke - Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas (1998)

Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas Depp.png
Universal Pictures

If Depp embodied a rock-star for Pirates, then the early signs were there a few years earlier, when he gave a performance that essentially serves as the personification of an acid-trip.

On paper (as in, when you read the book) there isn't really anyway this should work on-screen. The Gonzo work of Hunter S. Thompson is a crazy-ride from start to finish, but Terry Gilliam and leading man Depp somehow manage to translate that perfectly to film.

Following a journey to Las Vegas to cover a motorcycle raze, it becomes a drug-hazed, psychedelic romp without a clearly defined plot or sense of what the f**k is actually going on. It's wonderfully ridiculous, and Depp is the sniffing glue that holds it all together; a funny, paranoid mess that somehow doesn't let up over the course of two hours.

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Contributor
Contributor

NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.