The Trip
Barney Hoskyns, Uncut, 2004
BEFORE THE TRIP starts, an earnest middle-aged voice warns us that were about to witness "a shocking commentary on a prevalent trend of our time". This is, of course, Roger Cormans ass-covering joke at Middle Americas expense: his 1967 drugzploitation classic is nothing more than Jack Nicholsons paean to lysergic acid. Ad exec Peter Fonda takes the trip in question, encountering sundry LA groovers along the way: Bruce Dern, the inevitable Dennis Hopper, even an unknown Gram Parsons. When the trip briefly turns "bad", man, we merely wander into one of Cormans disused Edgar Allan Poe sets before Henrys boy is once again rolling around with a willowy California blonde. Turn on and tune in!
Total word count of piece: 116