SXSW Film

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

For a time in the mid-Sixties to mid-Seventies, Hunter S. Thompson, self-proclaimed king of gonzo journalism, merged writer with rock star and gnawed a hole through the American political spectrum, ratlike in the best sense of the phrase – if there is one, and if there isn't, Gibney's smart, slick doc emphatically creates one. Screeching the typewritten truth while living a treacherous, contradictory, hedonist-shaman lifestyle, with cordite 'n' cocaine and groupies galore in Aspen, Colo., Thompson forever altered reportorial journalism. He put a knife-edge on his Smith Corona and went straight for the jugular of the already putrefying American-dream-turned-nightmare. Gonzo apes Thompson's literary style via re-creations, readings (Johnny Depp is prominent), and remarkable, heretofore-unseen footage of the Duke of Woody Creek in mad action, at wild play, and, later on, in his lingering, lessening endgame. Wicked smart, but still so sad, it makes you wish he'd been born in time to cover the horrific here and now in his prime.