Hunter S. Thompson was not the visionary that liberals claimed him to be nor the lunatic that conservatives titled him – he was all of those things and more.
Thompson’s outrageous yet impactful life has been chronicled in the new film “Gonzo: the Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson.”
The two-hour documentary, directed by Alex Gibney and narrated by Johnny Depp, is as fast-paced and chaotic as Thompson’s life.
It truly feels like a glimpse into Thompson’s brain, utilizing home videos, old pictures, and illustrations by Gonzo artist Ralph Steadman to help the viewer understand the man behind the typewriter.
From classic black-and-white footage of Thompson’s appearance on the game show “To Tell the Truth” to home videos, taken by his second wife, of him clunking away at a typewriter, the documentary presents several sides of the counter-culture icon.
“Gonzo” interviews people who were in and out of Thompson’s life, including Jann Wenner, co-founder and publisher of Rolling Stone, Sen. George McGovern, musician Jimmy Buffet, President Jimmy Carter, former Oakland president of Hell’s Angels Sonny Barger, conservative pundit Pat Buchanan, author Tom Wolfe and Thompson’s family. The insight that these characters offer into Thompson’s life is priceless.
Thompson, who received his title of doctor from a church, began to hone his craft by typing up “The Great Gatsby.” He also missed his high school graduation because he was stuck in jail.
He was embedded with the Hell’s Angels and hung out with Ken Kesey. Thompson wasn’t all shenanigans, acid trips, whiskey and guns, however.
Thompson said he felt like he was trapped inside the Gonzo myth. “I’m no longer necessary,” he declares in an interview during the 1970s, in which he has the signature cigarette hanging effortlessly from his mouth and a green plastic visor on top of his balding head.
The writer’s experiences with politics might have perpetuated that myth, but they also helped to make him a reputable journalist.
Thompson ran for sheriff of Pitkin County, Colo., on a “freak” platform and almost won. His platform included replacing roads with sod, putting bad dope dealers into stocks, and renaming Aspen “Fat City.”
He was also a very influential political reporter, covering the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago and the 1972 Presidential campaign for Rolling Stone.
He was a strong supporter of McGovern and even spread a rumor that another Democratic primary candidate was taking a psychoactive drug called Ibogaine.
“Gonzo” turns from Thompson’s disillusionment with the political process to his own death in 2005. He was 67 when he shot himself in the head.
Thompson’s son, Juan, describes his father’s suicide as a “warm family event.”
The film ends with a middle-aged Thompson describing his own funeral interlaced with video footage of the actual event, including a two-thumbed fist monument and fireworks.
As the credits roll, the viewer will be pulled out of Thompson’s surreal life and realize that he was as crazy as they said he was and more prolific than he could have imagined.
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