I have always been a HST fan and have read nearly all his books and seen all the movies based on the books or about HST in general. He has a style that is very difficult to take from paper and put on the screen but this movie takes a shot at it and for the most part succeeds. First of this is not Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, a wonderful movies btw, but rather this movie has a more straightforward plot, that being Hunter's run for sheriff in Aspen in 1970. It is based on his articles in rolling stone (called the battle for aspen) detailing his campaign to unite the freaks and outcasts of aspen to get rid of the corrupt politicians that are selling their paradise to land developers. Its almost the plot of any of those bad 1980s ski movies about the evil developer coming to town and the people coming together to fight against it, only in this movie hunter carries a gun and the freaks dont win.
HST is a notoriously difficult character to portray correctly, he has such distinct mannerisms in how he talked and interacted with people, and it doesnt help that the previous attempts were delivered by hollywood heavyweights like murray and depp. But i have to give bulger credit for getting the essence of HST and not going too overboard. I do wish we got to see more character development and especially more interactions with his family because if youve read his works you know there was a lot of family drama going on at this time as well that we dont get to see in the movie. Anyway bulger's acting is solid enough to keep you entertained about the character and his shenanigans (like dumping contaminated water on the city council floor,) and there were occasions, like the speech at the end after his team lost the election, that really nailed the angst and ennui of the late 60s and early 70s. All in all, this movie is more direct and straight forward than Where the Buffalo Roam and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as it follows a single linear story line about the run for office, but it is still weird enough to capture the essence of HST. I was engaged for the entire movie (even knowing what was going to happen) and found myself laughing several times. This movie has its flaws and isnt perfect but most people will find it an entertaining way to kill 90 minutes.
