Gonzo: The Life And Work Of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

Okay…I’ve tried a couple of different times now to sit down and write up some comments on this new documentary about journalist and counter-culture icon Hunter S. Thompson – but each attempt wound up with me having relatively little to say about the film. It’s not the kind of documentary that transcends its subject, like March Of The Penguins or some of the more recent Michael Moore films. It’s well done, but its target demographic is pretty narrow – those who are familiar with and like Thompson and his work, and those who are not familiar but have some passing interest.

For those in the target demographic, it’s an enjoyable film – tracing the origins of what became known as “gonzo” journalism, a sort of manic coverage of a particular subject or event that so thoroughly involves the writer in the story that he becomes a part of the story himself. Two of the more famous of these instances were when Thompson spent a year as part of the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang and his coverage of the Presidential election campaign between George McGovern and Richard Nixon in 1972 – both of which experiences Thompson chronicled in books. He also wrote extensively for the fledgling Rolling Stone magazine, back in those heady, hippie days when people were actually interested in what was written in Rolling Stone.

Director Alex Gibney (No End In Sight, Taxi To The Dark Side) and company unabashedly romanticize their subject, enlarging and perpetuating the mythos of Hunter S. Thompson, despite the fact that he was an addictive (and sometimes violent) personality who apparently never met an alcoholic beverage, psychotropic chemical, or rolled herb that he wasn’t more than happy to drink, swallow, or smoke. Like it or not, alcohol and drugs have fueled quite a lot of great art and music over the years – and the filmmakers here do not apologize for the fact that a crucial aspect of the Hunter S. Thompson legend turns on the prodigious amount of chemicals he put into his body.

The stories told throughout the film come from interviews (especially with his first wife Sandy and Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner, but also with: illustrating partner Ralph Steadman, who wrote a memoir of the time he spent working with Thompson, called The Joke’s Over; Thompson’s son Juan; and even some seemingly random folks like right-wing lunatic Pat Buchanan and pirate crooner Jimmy Buffett), stock footage of Thompson, and readings of excerpts of some of Thompson’s writings, narrated by Johnny Depp (who played Thompson alter ego Raoul Duke in the film adaptation of Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas).

The only thing missing from the film is an honest look at the negative impact of Thompson’s often-manic behavior and his persistent drug and alcohol use. Though certainly one of those larger-than-life icon types, Thompson was, in fact, plain old human – and his behavior presumably had effects (both positive and negative) on the various people in his life and who were close to him. I think it would have been beneficial to the film as a true exploration of Thompson’s life and work for Gibney and company to have shown how Thompson’s behavior negatively impacted his life – and how he managed to survive for so long in spite of that behavior. In the end, though, this is a minor quibble, and certainly not enough to derail an otherwise very fine film.