Where the Buffalo Roam is a 1980 American semi-biographical comedy film which loosely depicts author Hunter S. Thompson's rise to fame in the 1970s and his relationship with Chicano attorney and activist Oscar "Zeta" Acosta. The film was produced and directed by Art Linson. Bill Murray portrayed the author and Peter Boyle portrayed Acosta, who is referred to in the film as Carl Lazlo, Esq. A number of other names, places, and details of Thompson's life are also changed.
Thompson's eulogy for Acosta, "The Banshee Screams for Buffalo Meat", which appeared in Rolling Stone issue #254 in December 1977, serves as the basis of the film, although screenwriter John Kaye drew from several other works, including Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, The Great Shark Hunt, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Thompson served as "executive consultant" on the film.
Despite the low-brow National Lampoon feel and frequent rearranging of innumerable details surrounding the Good Doctor's life (right down to changing Oscar Ascota's name to...Carl Laszlo? Where did that come from?) this is a fun watch, boosted by Murray and Peter Boyle's presence on-screen.
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