Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a two-hour celebration of drugs, foul language, and debauchery, with little or no consequences, redemption, or lessons learned. Lead character Raoul Duke (played by Johnny Depp before he became really popular with more mainstream audiences) is based on famous "Gonzo" journalist Hunter S. Thompson -- but there's little actual writing going on in the movie amid the fog of drugs, drinking, and swearing. Although little actual sex is shown, there's plenty of violent and depraved sexual imagery in the dialogue, yet another reason this movie absolutely isn't for kids. But for adults -- especially those already inducted into the Thompson cult -- the movie is a hilarious cult favorite.
Sexual
Content
Lewd and sometimes violent sex acts are discussed and described in the dialogue, but hardly anything is shown. A couple of Playboy-type centerfold pictures are briefly on view. Women are seen kissing in the background, and a male traffic cop asks to kiss the (also male) lead character.
Violence
Guns and knives are pulled but rarely used. A character flies into a violent drug rage, wielding a knife, but winds up locked in a bathroom. There's reckless, dangerous driving, as well as plenty of violence in the dialogue (including a description of gang rape), with characters threatening one another and playing out verbal scenarios of violence. In one sequence, the two lead characters discuss how to get rid of a young girl who's become a nuisance; the answer (though only implied) is unspeakably horrific.
Language
Incessant strong language permeates the film from beginning to end, including just about every word under the sun. Multiple uses of "f--k," "s--t," "t-ts," "bastard," "ass," "damn," "whore," "hell," "goddamn," "oh my God," "Jesus" (as an exclamation), "scum sucker," "swine," mentions of sodomy and castration, and racial slurs like "Spic."
Social
Behavior
The movie is a pure immersion into a few days of depraved behavior with no real point or consequences. The characters travel to Las Vegas to write a couple of magazine stories, but they mostly fail to accomplish that. Instead, they abuse their press privileges, act strangely and violently, consume a massive amount of drugs and alcohol, run out on hotel bills, abuse rental cars, and threaten and lie to others. At the end, no lesson is learned except that maybe the days of the counterculture are just about over.
Consumerism
Occasional brand names of alcohol (Wild Turkey, etc.) and car makes (Cadillac, etc.).
Drugs / Tobacco /
Alcohol
Excessive, constant drinking and drug use throughout the entire film. Characters drive under the influence, trash hotel rooms and rental cars, fail to turn up to work, leave unpaid hotel bills, and suffer little or no consequences for their actions. Drugs include cocaine, pot, acid, mescaline, pills, ether, a mention of opium, and -- in one scene -- some "adrenochrome," or human adrenaline. Drinks include beer, rum, tequila, and whisky. Somewhat ironically, there isn't much cigarette smoking.
