Review of Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (2008) by C F — 31 Mar 2009

A nice look at the life and career of everyone's favorite journalist/madman. Most of the movie is comprised of talking heads, so it feels a little too flat and dull at times. It's a great collection of contributors though, ranging from Ralph Steadman to Jimmy Carter.

Gibney also makes nice use of old footage and audio recordings from Thompson himself. The film does a good job of giving detailed coverage to Thompson's most important work and the major events of his life.

Not everything works, most notably the '72 election segment. Here, Gibney gives us a good recap of the candidates and the campaign trail. But for the 20 or 30 minutes that this segment goes on, Thompson and his presence on the trail feel like a collection of side notes, even though the movie is supposed to be revolving around him.

Overall, we spend two hours hearing about Thompson and his life, but we don't really dive deeply enough to really get to know the man. Maybe that's fitting, though, since he was sort of an enigma.

It's a good movie, but it would've been nice if they had been able to do a little more with it.