There will never be another writer like Hunter S. Thompson. Alex Gibney’s new documentary GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF DR. HUNTER S. THOMPSON focuses on the controversial journalist/author and true American original, detailing his life from his upbringing to the fateful night when he took his own life.
Viewers are treated to countless footage of Thompson in all aspects of his life, including an appearance on TO TELL THE TRUTH, where he is just a fresh-faced author who wrote a book about the Hells Angels. After a brief section about his youth, the film moves right into his writing career, pretty much avoiding his time in the Army. The doc is narrated by Thompson’s own writing — as read by friend and longtime fan Johnny Depp — interspersed with archival interviews of Thompson.
It’s really eye-opening when a young Thompson is confronted by one of the Hells Angels on TV about how he was beat up by the members for stepping in when he shouldn’t have. Flash-forward to the likes of Hells Angels member Sonny Barger, who calls Thompson a writer on the level of Mark Twain, but also a real jerk who distorted the truth.
Then come the ROLLING STONE years when Thompson’s first piece for the magazine was about his attempt to run for sheriff of Aspen. These scenes benefit by all the old footage that Gibney has put together, with shots of Thompson getting his head shaved so he could refer to his opponents as “a long hair,” while Depp reads off Thompson’s platform, if elected.
Artist and collaborator Ralph Steadman is introduced as one who was “just” a drinker until he met Thompson. At their first meeting, he gave Steadman a handful of mescaline, and a partnership was born. Throughout the film, the illustrator talks about their working relationship, and how he had free rein with his artwork, with Thompson providing a spark of an idea that would lead to another piece.
It leads directly into the writer’s crowning achievement of FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS. What was supposed to be a short little piece for SPORTS ILLUSTRATED became the drug book by which all others are measured. ROLLING STONE founder Jann Werner is featured throughout with some truly great stories, including how he would take anything that Thompson ever wrote.
This section of GONZO shows various scenes from Terry Gilliam’s movie version, which is truly a treat for FEAR fans, since we also see an early meeting with Thompson and an unseen Alex Cox, discussing a crucial passage from the book that the director wanted to animate. It’s made clear that Cox was not going to work out at all.
We then move to Thompson’s tenure of working the political desk at ROLLING STONE, leading to the only political book that not only shows you the real machine at work, but is also one of the funniest: FEAR AND LOATHING: ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL ‘72. It details how no one had any idea who Thompson was, except for a very small few. Such luminaries interviewed are George McGovern, Pat Buchanan (who has the best line in the documentary) and Gary Hart. We’re told Thompson always rooted for the underdog, thus throwing all his support behind such a long shot as McGovern.
GONZO also goes into some of the fun Thompson would throw into his articles that some newspapers would pick up as truth, such as the accusation of Edmund Muskie was taking some sort of high-potency speed to get through the campaign. All this leads to McGovern winning the nomination, only to lose the election due to his VP candidate’s checkered past.
After all these highs is where things slowly fall apart for Thompson, starting with his total failure to cover 1974’s historic “Rumble in the Jungle” boxing match. He figured Muhammad Ali was doomed to lose, so he spent the match sitting in the hotel pool drinking. Then there the divorce from his first wife, who couldn’t deal with the lifestyle anymore. This is where I felt the film could have used some trimming.
While there was still some brilliance to come from Thompson — such as his pieces about Jimmy Carter — it becomes apparent he was not the same writer anymore. Thompson himself explains he felt trapped in a character that he himself perpetuated — and ended the night he committed suicide.
GONZO is sure to please longtime readers of Thompson, and hopefully people who’ve never read him will be inspired to go out and grab his books. It’s a portrait of a truly one-of-a-kind person who thankfully lives on through his writings. —Bruce Grossman
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Sounds like an important cultural artifact.