Steinesongo Too many fans seem to be blown away

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Asad Almond A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

gavin6942 I do not claim to know all that much about Hunter Thompson. I have seen "Fear and Loathing" and having gone through a phase where I loved counterculture, I knew some degree of his life...This documentary brings out a whole new level of Hunter I was not aware of. I knew about the Hell's Angels, but his appearance on game shows was foreign to me. And I was never aware that he took his run for Aspen sheriff so seriously or received so much coverage.Johnny Depp as narrator seems fitting. I thought it was a bit too obvious, but somehow Depp has come to represent Hunter... why not Bill Murray? I have no idea.

Jeff Lawshe Gonzo is a traditional documentary in which the director remains mute behind the camera, allowing the subjects to develop the story independent of outside commentary. The film's foundation is its subject matter--not the fireworks of post-Michael-Moore documentary film making.If you're into the Hell's Angels, drug culture, gun culture, psychological and sometimes real violence, the 60s, the 70s, Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, Tom Wolfe, Neal Cassidy, Rolling Stone, Haight-Ashbury, and, most importantly Hunter S. Thompson (aka Raoul Duke) himself--if you're into that kind of thing--this film will work for you.I am into that kind of thing--but mostly because I'm intellectually fascinated by the prototypes of many of the people I've chosen to surround myself with now. You have to understand that a film like this is sort of about my imaginary ancestors. Or maybe the imaginary ancestors of a family I've loosely adopted as my own.I'm a seven-time participant in Burning Man. The people I know (whether they admit it or not), are still carrying the torch for pranksterism and hippydom. And if I wasn't so square myself, I'd probably be even deeper in the middle of what the counterculture has become. I appreciate tranquility and sanity too much to be more than a voyeuristic observer in this experiment. It's not dead quite yet, believe me.About that intellectual curiosity: I've never really been able to tease apart my ambivalent feelings towards Hunter S. Thompson. I've read Hell's Angels, seen Johnny Depp in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, seen Bill Murray in Where the Buffalo roam. I admire Thompson's success and enjoy his writing.But on the other hand, my admiration is tainted by a small part of something negative--maybe disgust or distrust, or maybe just spiteful envy that someone could become so successful primarily by flaunting moral and journalistic convention.The movie helped me see the man more than the character--and I have a much deeper appreciation for his experience of reality: for Hunter's experience, and what it led him to do. I don't know that the film resolved my ambivalence, but it certainly helped me not to be quite so judgmental.What fascinates me the most about this era is not the traditional narrative that pits the authority against the counter-cultural freaks. What continues to fascinate me is the way in which the so-called 'failure' of the era was really just the final, incontrovertible admission that the counterculture was another facet of the mainstream culture, and that there were easy ways in which the latter could bend itself into an acceptable version of the former.In today's context, it's nearly unthinkable to me that a person like Thompson could not only make a living but really be quite successful by adopting outrageousness and rebellion for its own sake.Somehow, even then, when long-haired (or bald-headed in Thompson's case) rock-infused freakiness was still too nascent to have found its way into the stripmall mainstream, there were people who managed to make money off of the system while mouthing off about it at every opportunity.And maybe that's what made the movement so absolutely enticing as a force of social revolt: because it had the money to make revolution not just a moral imperative, but also really really fun.For all of its outsider mentality and oppression complex, the counterculture was still white, still disproportionately privileged, still more capable of wielding its resources to create a reality other than the one presented to its members at birth.It remains to be seen whether that's something we should really feel ashamed of, or whether it's just a good thing to keep in mind as we launch our future projects as DIY culture-builders.The ability to reshape one's cultural reality without drastically impacting one's economic future is, arguably, the greatest privilege we whites have maintained over time. I truly wish everyone could experience that kind of freedom.Hunter S. Thompson personifies the problem of white outsiderness to me. He was the bad boy and people with money liked the spectacle. Didn't seem like he felt any pressure to assimilate.Because ultimately he was producing more (social and material) capital than the suits and minor politicians he ridiculed. Was he really any more pure of the taint of money and privilege than they were, or was he just smarter about it? Should I despise him for his fame and spectacle, or should I feel proud that some one made it while saying no to that stereotypical straw man we call normal? Like a lot of author bios this film brought a third dimension to Thompson--one I hadn't seen before. By listening to his struggles and the accounts of his friends, I learned who Hunter was beyond what he has come to represent in my head.

michael_the_nermal This film was pretty decent; it was made by the same guy who created the brilliant documentary on Enron, and the quality was evident. I understand that two hours is plenty of time for a documentary on a semi-famous writer best known for his books on the Hells Angels and his drug-fueled adventures in Las Vegas, but I didn't feel completely satisfied with this movie. The movie ought to have spent more time on Hunter Thompson's boyhood and youth. Why did he go into writing? When did he begin? Did his time in the Air Force influence his later career? There was no elucidation on Thompson's nascent work, such as the recently-published "Rum Diary." I had a feeling that much of Thompson's career as a writer stemmed from the experiences of his youth. Just how did he get that job at "The Nation", which led to his articles on the Hells Angels? This movie should have focused more on that, rather than the inordinate amount of time it spent on the 1972 election.The movie seemed like a paean to the man and his writing, but it provided balance by citing his destructive behavior and its toll on loved ones. The comments by Thompson's first wife were especially poignant, and her feelings about his suicide were the most mature and heart-felt of any in the documentary. It is from Thompsn's ex-wife that the viewer gets a relatively full picture of the man, for here was a woman who knew him as well as anyone, and could describe the good and bad of the man in all of its gritty detail.Some of the film seemed a bit creepy, but that's probably because it reflected off the weird vibes of Hunter Thompson and his followers. Johnny Depp has a wonderfully sonorous voice, perfect for reading excerpts of Thompson's work. It was really odd to see Depp get into his narration by holding a pistol up with his right hand while he read a leaflet from Thompson's ill-fated campaign for sheriff of Pitkin County, Colorado; on the front of the leaflet is Thompson's "gonzo" symbol. I guess Depp wants to play the part of the cool hipster in this scene by showing how down he is with the counterculture; but, lest we forget, he *was* in three rather lame CGI-laden Disney blockbusters as a not-too-funny, dopey, effeminate, so-called pirate. But I digress (which I love doing).This movie really didn't elucidate what exactly "gonzo journalism" is, other than the following: it involves heavy editorializing and the imposition of personal opinion on events, laced with sarcasm and tongue-in-cheek humor; including yourself in the story; searching for hope and morality in the most immoral of people and places; and, as a matter of course, getting stoned and zonked on hallucinogenic drugs and alcohol. (Ironic that most people know the word "Gonzo" as the name of the lovelorn blue weirdo Muppet from "Muppet Babies"; wonder how Thompson felt about that?)Confession: I've not read a thing by Thompson, but have heard of him and his reputation as a counterculture icon of sorts. Overall, the film was decent, and I might read some of Thompson's writing as a result of what I saw in this movie. I hope that's what that film will do for others as well.

Seamus2829 Let's face it, either you loved or hated the life & words of the late Dr.Hunter S.Thompson,you have to admit...he was a piece of work. This documentary attempts to delve into the life (and head)of Thompson (not always with success,but don't let that throw you). The film (narrated by Johnny Depp,who played Thompson in 'Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas',some years back,making him a natural for the job)delves back to his association with the Hells Angels in the mid 1960's (which ended badly),to his being embraced by the whole Hippie counter culture of the later half of that era (along with massive intakes of various drugs),to writing several novels in the early to mid 1970's,to his subsequent downward spiral (in the creative sense),to his eventual death in 2005,by suicide (and his unorthodox memorial service). Hunter Thompson managed to make a name for himself. What I admired was the fact that it goes out of it's way to prove that the sixties was not always the hippie utopia that the baby boomer's make it out to be. What I could have done without was some of the more forgettable music from the 1960's & 1970's (does anybody really want to hear Jimmy Buffet's 'Margaritaville'for the twenty thousandth time?---I sure as hell don't). Apart from that, 'Gonzo:The Life & Work Of Dr.Hunter S. Thompson' will be a "must see" for those who tend to embrace the counter culture, rather than pop culture/trash culture.