Journalism's wild one, loved and loathed / LJWorld.com

Archive for Friday, July 25, 2008

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Hunter S. Thompson (shown in the 1970s) is the subject of Alex Gibney's documentary "Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson."

By Steven Rea - The Philadelphia Inquirer

July 25, 2008

Movie

Oscar winner Alex Gibney ("Taxi to the Dark Side") delivers a rich documentary portrait of the career, legend and downfall of the pioneering '60s and '70s nutball journalist Hunter S. Thompson, famous for his "Fear and Loathing" epics and his drug-addled takes on the liars and scoundrels of the day.

Showtimes and more on Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

Get movie listings, reviews, and more at lawrence.com

The chain-smoking, pill-popping, shades-wearing journalist Hunter S. Thompson whose counterculture musings about the Kentucky Derby and the Hells Angels led to a couple of Fear and Loathing epics, was, if nothing else, wildly independent.

He was also, as Alex Gibney's absorbing documentary "Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson" lays testament to, a self-obsessed nutjob who habitually recorded his rants and ramblings, shot himself on film and video and then, years into a booze-soaked burnout, literally shot himself.

Enabled by Jann Wenner's feisty, fledgling Rolling Stone, Thompson, in the late '60s and early '70s, pioneered a type of journalism that jettisoned any pretense of objectivity - and thereby explored deeper, stranger truths. Ignoring deadlines and racking up expenses - and ingesting vast quantities of drugs and alcohol - Thompson filed reports from America's capital of gambling and vice ("Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas") and then turned his attention to the 1972 Nixon/McGovern presidential race ("Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail").

At its best, his writing was genius. At its worst - and it got worse as Thompson started buying into his own hype - it was belligerent and self-indulgent.

Gibney, who made "Gonzo" concurrently with this year's Oscar-winning documentary "Taxi to the Dark Side," gets all that. Incorporating gleaming chunks of Thompson's prose, intercutting bits from the author's audio and video archives, and splicing footage from Terry Gilliam's 1998 movie adaptation of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," "Gonzo" paints a rich portrait.

Talking head interviews include: George McGovern (livelier now than he was in the '70s!), Jimmy Carter, Thompson's first and second wives, his son, and the illustrator Ralph Steadman, who gave the "Fear and Loathing" articles their trademark inkwell-in-an-earthquake visual style.

Johnny Depp, who portrayed Thompson's alter-ego in Gilliam's film, provides the narration. If there's hagiography here, it's counterbalanced by biographical truth: Lots of people come out to say that the good Doctor was not much fun to be around, especially in those end days, with his arsenal of guns and bunker in the Colorado hills.

But Gibney also wants to honor what it was that made Thompson a celebrity in the first place: his brilliant, blotto writing, and his ability to smell out the liars and the hypocrites and expose them for the feral beasts that they were.

Discussion

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3 August 2008
at 3:02 p.m.

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Marion (Marion Lynn) says…

” At its worst - and it got worse as Thompson started buying into his own hype - it was belligerent and self-indulgent.”Marion writes:Them's fightin' words!
3 August 2008
at 7:12 p.m.

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Marion (Marion Lynn) says…

spiderman (Anonymous) says: you cannot take the blathering out of svengalli or its' geting warmer without taking the wasteless drivel out of the forum”Marion wrties:Now, there's a thought!
3 August 2008
at 7:56 p.m.

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snap_pop_no_crackle (Anonymous) says…

But somebody shut freestyle out of his own 'forum'.Whowoulddoathinglikethat?
3 August 2008
at 8:44 p.m.

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Marion (Marion Lynn) says…

Freestyle is not shut out of anything.You, snap, may be shut out of your own mind but Freestyle's is working fine.
3 August 2008
at 8:46 p.m.

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Marion (Marion Lynn) says…

Look, I want the concession for popcorn, soft drinks, hotdogs, beer and chips for this contest of words, OK?
3 August 2008
at 8:58 p.m.

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labmonkey (Anonymous) says…

Lets see…they guy shot himself with his six-year-old grandson in the house, and yet people venerate him. The psychological damage he probably did to that child is what he should be remembered for, not his art.
3 August 2008
at 9:03 p.m.

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snap_pop_no_crackle (Anonymous) says…

girlfriend, nothing's been posted on that odious 'forum' since June 24. Did freestyle suddeenly run out of blather?Stillhavingawonderfulunoutedinternetlifeandthere'snothingyoucandoaboutit.

3 August 2008
at 10:20 p.m.

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Marion (Marion Lynn) says…

snap_pop_no_crackle (Anonymous) says: girlfriend, nothing's been posted on that odious 'forum' since June 24. Did freestyle suddeenly run out of blather?Stillhavingawonderfulunoutedinternetlifeandthere'snothingyoucandoaboutitMarion writes:To which “odious” foum do you refer?L*rryville?
3 August 2008
at 11:17 p.m.

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Marion (Marion Lynn) says…

I once had a “few” drinks with Mr. Thompson; an experience which was very, very good at the time but one which I would not care to repeat.
3 August 2008
at 11:53 p.m.

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Marion (Marion Lynn) says…

Mr. Thompson was not psycho and in fact a very enjoyable guy to be around.Very much misunderstood by many but then, aren't a lot of us?In the meantime, Alexander Solzhenitsyn is gone!:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,396721,00.html
4 August 2008
at 12:05 a.m.

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Marion (Marion Lynn) says…

Chris Rock is an entertainer with about as much credibility as Michael Moore!A short bio of Chris Rock from “eneertainer”:”Famous as : Actor, comedianBirth Name : Christopher Julius Rock IIIBirth Date : February 07, 1965Birth Place : Andrews, South Carolina, USASpouse : Malaak Compton-Rock (executive director of non-profit, full-service salon StyleWorks, since 23-Nov-96)Claim to fame : As Pookie in “New Jack City” (1991)”Marion writes:A “non-profit” hair salon?Woo Hoo!
4 August 2008
at 6:24 a.m.

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snap_pop_no_crackle (Anonymous) says…

girlfriend, I was talking about the odious 'forum' that's part of your stinking pit of a 'forum'. You know, the one where wittman and enforcer used to rant. You seem to be ignoring it so you can post your raves here where more than 3 people will see them.BTW, you know all about businesses that can't turn a profit, don't you?
4 August 2008
at 7:50 a.m.

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Marion (Marion Lynn) says…

spiderman (Anonymous) says: probably less credibility than Michael Moore actually::.”Marion writes:Well, that would put Chris Rock something in the hole, as it were; what with Michael Moore having *ZERO* credibility!