Review of Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (2008) by Lindsay M — 15 Dec 2008

Between 1965 and 1975, celebrated writer, exorbitant drug user and enthusiastic gun-nut Hunter S. Thompson embedded himself with the Hells Angels, ran for sheriff of Aspen, Colorado, "invented" and popularized man-in-the-story gonzo-style journalism, and covered one of the most fateful presidential races in US history (Nixon vs McGovern, 1972. Spoiler: Nixon won.) It's unsurprising, then, that most of acclaimed documentarian Alex Gibney ("Taxi to the Dark Side")'s new film about the writer, "Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson" chronicles Thompson's comings and goings during the aforementioned ten crazy years. And, heavy-handed musical choices aside ---Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side" plays as sheriff-candidate Thompson is described as a "crazy, bald, freak drug-fiend...about to take over the whole political mechanism"---when Gibney's documentary focuses on this particularly fertile period in Thompson's life, it's just as fascinating as its larger-than-life subject. The problem: that one stretch of Thompson-time is SO captivating that the film's final half-hour, which skims through the 20 years between Thompson's most productive writing decade and his 2005 suicide, feels like a tacked-on letdown. "Went to live with Jimmy Buffett following a divorce" just doesn't have the same appeal as "went to a Hells Angels party and saw a gangbang.".

By me, The Coast.