Enter the Gonzo: meeting Hunter S. Thompson

(The following article appeared in the Piedmont Post.)

The new documentary, Gonzo: The Life and Times of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, is an entertaining and edifying entrée into the decadent and depraved life of the protean writer/journalist who proved that modern-day writers could still be celebrities and inspired a new generation to write vigorously.

Narrated with laconic pathos by Johnny Depp and directed by Alex Gibney, Gonzo chronicles Thompson’s rise from a lower-middle class, anti-authoritarian youth in Louisville, Kentucky, to one of the foremost journalists of the past 50 years. The movie principally focuses on the decade 1965 to 1975, when Thompson produced the bulk of his best work and rose to stardom as an influential and well-paid writer for Rolling Stone magazine.

His first big break came in 1965 with an assignment from the Nation to write an article about the Hell’s Angels, the rebel motorcycle club from Oakland. That article became the book that launched his career. In 1970, Thompson and crazed illustrator Ralph Steadman, heavily narcotized and boozed, covered the Kentucky Derby. The resulting article was the first piece of Gonzo journalism, a reckless offshoot of the “New Journalism,” of which Thompson himself was arguably the only practitioner.

The film details Thompson’s attempt to run for sheriff in Aspen, Colorado, the insane exploits of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (unfortunately depicted with footage from the eponymous 1998 film starring Depp as Thompson), and his bold, no-holds-barred, reporting of the riot-torn 1972 presidential election, pitting Richard Nixon against George McGovern, with the Vietnam War as a backdrop.

At times, Gonzo feels cobbled together like plywood – an amalgam of disparate parts that constitute a not entirely appealing whole, which may be a directorial decision to create a piece of art that effectively mirrors its subject.

The film is filled with interviews with Thompson’s friends, coworkers and subjects, including a long list of political figures. Their testimonies, combined with footage and previous documentaries of Thompson, create a vivid though not entirely endearing portrait of the wily writer.

He is even credited with nearly single-handedly convincing the American public to elect Jimmy Carter in 1977.

Gonzo admirably captures Thompson’s kaleidoscopic personality. He was a warm friend and a writer of well-researched, well-written, passionate journalism. He was also confrontational, irrational, and prone to destructive behavior. He developed a dependence not just on drugs and adrenaline, but also on the celebrity he created for himself as a journalist. In looking back at the depth of his talent, Thompson's inability to catch a second literary-breath should be edifying for anyone entering the field of journalism today.

Sadly, the world today is in great need of the vitriolic intelligence and rigorous investigation of Thompson. His untimely suicide, which Gibney handles cleanly to create the film’s most touching moments, leaves a major void in contemporary American journalism. Thompson was quoted as saying, “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” Well, the going has gone entirely weird, and the best of the weird should consider professional careers in journalism. Maybe this film will convince them of their vocation.