Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
BY JASON GANTENBERG I SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

Directed by: Alex Gibney
Narrated by: Johnny Depp
Interviewed: Sonny Barger, Angela Berliner, Douglas Brinkley, Pat Buchanan, Jimmy Buffet, Pat Caddell, Jimmy Carter, Tim Crouse, Gary Hart, George McGovern, Ralph Steadman, Anita Thompson, Juan Thompson, Jann Wenner, Tom Wolfe, Sondi Wright


PHOTO: Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

All political power comes from the barrel of either guns, pussy, or opium pipes, and people seem to like it that way. Hunter S. Thompson

Let's get one thing straight. There will never be another Hunter S. Thompson.

The conditions that allowed a journalist like him to operate in the 1960s and '70s simply do not exist in our modern political and social climates. No Acid Wave. No Free Love. No unhinged generation of revolutionaries to frighten and terrorize the noble classes. A political intellect like Thompson's probably only comes around once in a century anyway, and the next felonious, drug-addled luminary with enough balls to march on the political process in any significant way will likely be silenced in the zygotic stages of his/her career or else be doomed to the polluted wastes of the blogosphere.

So have we fallen.

Alex Gibney's documentary Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (2008) concentrates mainly on Hunter's best and most active years when he was able to tap existing political resources as well as those of Jann Wenner, the Editor of Rolling Stone who made Hunter the head of the National Affairs Desk. From Hell's Angels to Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72, Gibney collects the testimonials of prominent figures in Thompson's life and delves into the political and social backdrops of an era marked by revolution, drugs, and the Vietnam Conflict.

For the obsessed fan—for those admirers writing regular correspondence to Anita Thompson to finally release and publish Prince Jellyfish, a long-shelved Hunter Thompson tome that remains to be seen (presumably) by anyone other than Thompson's personal biographer Douglas Brinkley—Gonzo provides an admirable amount of rare footage including Hunter's early appearances on radio programs and talk shows, some discreet phone conversations between him and his mistresses, and a behind-the-scenes look at Thompson's nearly successful campaign for Sheriff of Aspen County in 1970. Though it parses some footage from a few other documentaries about Thompson (Breakfast with Hunter (2003) and Fear and Loathing in Gonzovision (1978)), most of the insights provided by Gonzo are pretty fresh even for aficionados.

There is a sense at the beginning of the film, however, that Alex Gibney was about to screw the pooch with this one. With Johnny Depp's droning recitations of selections from Hunter S. Thompson's early work playing over staged footage of a man riding a motorcycle and some scene transitions marred by especially shitty kaleidoscope shots, it momentarily appears that the documentary would be better suited for daytime airings on the History Channel, and it isn't until Gibney gets a few testimonials under his belt that the film corrects its course and takes the content head on.

What follows represents something the subject of Hunter S. Thompson rarely receives: an honest, in-depth look at his legacy as a massive literary character, but more importantly, as a person.

The most compelling interview comes from Thompson's first wife, Sondi Wright, who was present for the early rage-filled years when Hunter was cutting his teeth in the journalism world. Through her, we get a glimpse into his infidelity and his craziness, and she, perhaps, is the one person since his suicide to call him cowardly for biting the Big Bullet in an era where his voice and tenacity are once again needed. Of all the interviewed celebrities, personal friends , and politicians, she provides the most candid, personal, and realistic portrayal of her ex-husband as a flawed and somewhat fragile human being, only part the juggernaut portrayed in his own books as well as derivative films and documentaries produced following the apex of his career.

That being said, almost all the commentary provides valuable insight into the man, from Jimmy Carter to Jann Wenner to Juan Thompson, Hunter's son. Pat Buchanan gets his licks in as well, having been the brunt of much of Thompson's ire throughout the years, and fans with an esoteric knowledge of his work will appreciate the commentary from some of Thompson's recurring characters and Woody Creek friends like the Sheriff of Aspen County.

As has been the general rule since Terry Gilliam's masterful adaptation of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was released in 1998, Johnny Depp once again plays a prominent role in this documentary, providing the voice for selections from Hunter Thompson's written work and appearing in transitional shots holding a .357 Magnum and reading from the books. Rolling Stone gave Depp a column in their memorial issue shortly after Hunter's suicide, and he appears in numerous short subjects and documentaries reading from Hunter's personal letters. It seems as if we cannot have a conversation about Hunter S. Thompson without cashing in on Johnny Depp's star value, though I will give Gibney credit for not actually interviewing him about the time he spent living in Hunter's basement in preparation for Fear and Loathing. The point was to concentrate on Thompson's formative/prolific years, and Gibney manages to stick to the subject more or less as strictly as possible. Besides, if you really want to split hairs, Bill Murray's portrayal of Thompson in Where the Buffalo Roam (1980) is just as good as Depp's, if not better in many ways.

As a frothing, maniacal fan, I've read Thompson's entire body of work save for the end of Hell's Angels and much of The Proud Highway (a volume of his personal correspondence). I'll probably knock those out before long. However, I would have liked some information on the quieter years as well as some attention given to Generation of Swine and Better Than Sex, both enjoyable and intermittently brilliant works focusing on the Iran Contra scandal and aspects of Bill Clinton's presidency, respectively. After all, Thompson didn't really lose his edge completely until he began writing Hey Rube for ESPN.com. Even his last major work, Kingdom of Fear, while primarily retrospective and a partial rehashing of previous stories, was worth a read, if a heart wrenching, depressing one.

Perhaps those are worth a follow-up.

All in all, Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson is a satisfying documentary and a film that belongs on the required reading list for any Hunter S. Thompson fan as well as for those who might not have found his writing all that accessible in the past but are nonetheless interested.


BOOKS BY HUNTER S. THOMPSON

PHOTO: Hunter S. Thompson



Comments
 

Home I Writing I Art I Music I Video I Submit I About I Contact I Forum I EM's Blog
Flash Fiction I Articles I Poetry I Short Stories I Books I Comic Books I Movies I Video Games
Graphic Design I Photography I Drawings I Evil Mammoth I Polski Samurai I Dr. Charming
Copyright 2009 SlothJockey.com
Twitter icon on homepage created by Noper.