Theatrical Review of Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson

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"We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold." As an opening line of a book, it´s not quite in a league with "I am a sick man… I am a spiteful man" or "A screaming comes across the sky," but Hunter Thompson kicks off his masterful "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" by hammering down and not easing up on the pedal until he collapses from sheer exhaustion. He lived his life in much the same fashion.

"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" was the second in a series of three groundbreaking books by Thompson in the late 60s and early 70s that shattered any remaining notions of objectivity in reporting, creating a new style he dubbed "gonzo journalism" where fiction blurs with fact, and the writer is as much a part of the story as the story itself. His first book, "Hell´s Angels" (1966) was a report of Thompson´s year spent "embedded" with the infamous biker gang and chronicled his journey from acceptance to eventual rejection by their alien and often grotesque sub-culture. It was a hit (though not big enough for Thompson´s taste) that rocketed the young author to instant stardom.

"Vegas" was the product of Thompson´s failed assignment to cover a motor race in Sin City; his semi-delusional 60 page submission was rejected by an angry "Sports Illustrated" editor, only to become a novel published in two parts in "Rolling Stone," a magazine Thompson would work frequently for over the years to the delight and exasperation of Jann Wenner and others on staff. The story quickly veers away from coverage of the race to a chronicle of the drug-fueled adventures of Thompson and his friend Oscar Zeta Acosta, though in the book they were re-dubbed Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo. Subtitled "A Savage Journey into the Heart of the American Dream," it is one of a handful of books which captures a zeitgeist (there is no such thing as _the_ zeitgeist) of the 60s so poignantly it still resonates for a reader like me who wasn´t even born then.

His third book "Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ´72" witnessed the gonzo journalist´s assault on the Washington press corps. He immersed himself fully in the George McGovern campaign, becoming a passionate advocate for his candidate and a vicious and vindictive critic of McGovern´s opponents for the Democratic nomination.

Alex Gibney´s new documentary "Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson" spends a good deal of time covering this period in Thompson´s life. While Thompson made no pretense of being an objective journalist, he certainly knew how to play with the expectations of objectivity. In one report for "Rolling Stone," he wrote that Democratic candidate Ed Muskie was rumored to be under the treatment of a Brazilian doctor who administered the hallucinogenic drug Ibogaine to the feisty politician. "Rolling Stone" allegedly published the claim because it was so outrageous nobody would take it seriously, but it was soon picked up by the mainstream press (every bit as gullible then as today) and Muskie´s campaign suffered because of it. In a talk show clip, Thompson jokes that he never claimed Muskie was on Ibogaine, only that there was a rumor in Wisconsin that he was on the drug. Of course, a grinning Thompson adds, "I´m the one that started the rumor."

Raoul Duke became much more than an outlandish character in a book; he became both a pen name and a persona for the celebrity journalist, and eventually a caricature whose shadow all but swallowed up the real Hunter Thompson. "Gonzo" kicks off with another marvelous clip from the game show "To Tell the Truth" in which celebrity panelists interrogate three contestants to determine which one is the real deal. The announcer asks, "Will the real Hunter Thompson please stand up?" It´s a question that structures the entire film.

But "Gonzo" doesn´t really succeed as a "savage journey to the heart" of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. We don´t gain a whole lot of insight into his personality, but that´s not really Gibney´s point (or at least I don´t think it is.) Thompson´s identity blended with his fictional persona to the point that the two were indistinguishable. Indeed, you could argue that Thompson not only became the caricature Raoul Duke, but that he actually became the caricature of the caricature as represented by the character Duke in Garry Trudeau´s "Doonesbury," a portrayal that Thompson allegedly despised. Attempting to separate fiction from reality is not only impossible in this case; it´s utterly pointless. Peel away Raoul Duke and you´re left with a drug-addicted, booze-addled, gun-toting narcissist, albeit a very charismatic one. Tarnish the legend, and you risk destroying the subject entirely.

Gibney thus has to negotiate a treacherous path. It´s easy to romanticize a larger-than-life personality like Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, gonzo journalist, and it makes for compelling viewing. However, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, gonzo journalist, was not exactly a model to be emulated as many wanna-be gonzos have attempted to do over the years. Thompson´s first-wife Sondi Wright, the most interesting of all the people interviewed in the film, throws some cold water on the celebration. She talks of Thompson´s now infamous suicide, a shot to the head which he had talked about for years. To some it was a spectacular way for a legend to go out on top, but Sondi notes that Thompson was a long way from the top and believes his suicide was a cowardly act.

The documentary features a host of other interviews with politicians as disparate as Jimmy Carter and Pat Buchanan (oddly, one of the more eloquent speakers here) and, of course, Thompson´s illustrator/collaborator Ralph Steadman. Johnny Depp reads excerpts from Thompson´s work. Still, it´s the archival footage of Thompson that provides the most appeal here. No, it doesn´t help us get inside his head, but who the hell would want to be there: it´s bat country, after all. Instead, the footage provides evidence both of the talent and of the wasted opportunity, the creation of a legend and the consumption of a man by that legend. As Thompson himself observes, "I´ve become an appendage."

It is true that Thompson´s work after "Campaign Trail ´72" failed to match up to his previous work, but sometimes this point is overstated. Many authors strike gold early and then struggle to keep the bar raised so high. Drugs and alcohol may have cost Thompson and his readers even more brilliant writing, but the fact is that few 20th century American writers have left behind a body of work as impressive and idiosyncratic as Thompson´s, warts and all. "Gonzo" is a fitting tribute to his extraordinary talent. Call it an 8/10 on the DVDTown scale.

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