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51
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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
Magnolia Pictures
 |
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FILM:
MPAA RATING: R for drug and sexual content, language and some nudity
Starring
Johnny Depp,
Jimmy Carter,
George McGovern,
Pat Buchanan,
Jann Wenner,
Tom Wolfe,
Jimmy Buffett,
and
Ralph Steadman
From Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney and producer Graydon Carter comes a probing look into the uncanny life of national treasure and gonzo journalism inventor Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. A fast-moving, wildly entertaining documentary with an iconic soundtrack, the film addresses the major touchstones in Thompson's life--his intense and ill-fated relationship with the Hells Angels, his near-successful bid for the office of sheriff in Aspen in 1970, the notorious story behind the landmark Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, his deep involvement in Senator George McGovern's 1972 presidential campaign, and much more. Narrated by Johnny Depp. (Magnolia Pictures)
| GENRE(S): |
Documentary
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Alex Gibney
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: November 18, 2008
Theatrical: July 4, 2008
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
118 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
91
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
The movie also captures Thompson's tragedy: the haze of drugs and bad writing that consumed him for no less than his last 30 years.
90
The Hollywood Reporter
Kirk Honeycutt
A biographical documentary doesn't get any better than this.
90
The New York Times
A.O. Scott
It is to Mr. Gibney’s great credit that while he pays due attention to the outsize, cartoonish celebrity persona Thompson fell back on when his literary powers began to wane, this film concentrates on the bold, innovative journalism that secured Thompson’s reputation and assures his immortality.
90
Salon.com
Andrew O'Hehir
Gibney's immensely funny and sad new motion picture Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson -- the "Dr." was a mail-order divinity degree -- is principally intended to rehabilitate Thompson and introduce his work to a new audience.
90
Film Threat
Pete Vonder Haar
The July 4th release is fitting, for Thompson was a true patriot. His longstanding association with the counterculture notwithstanding, Thompson loved this country and the things it once stood for, and his voice is sorely missed today, and whether you were a fan of his work or not, you'll find Gonzo well worth your time.
88
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
It leaves you wondering, how was it that so many people liked this man who does not seem to have liked himself?
88
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
Johnny Depp, who paid for the 2005 funeral in which Thompson's ashes were fired out of a cannon, narrates with just the right mix of awe and impertinence.
88
USA Today
Claudia Puig
A mesmerizing look at the mythic quality and anarchic spirit of the irreverent and rabble-rousing journalist.
80
New York Magazine
David Edelstein
A tender, even-tempered elegy to a writer who at his peak could ingest staggering (literally) amounts of drugs and alcohol and transform, like Popeye after a can of spinach, into a superhuman version of himself--more trenchant, more cutting, more hilarious than any political journalist before or since.
80
Variety
Dennis Harvey
Subject's career being inextricably tied to two extremely entertaining U.S. decades, Gonzo has a wealth of delightful archival footage to draw on, both directly involving Thompson and evoking the cultural landscape around him.
75
Chicago Tribune
Tasha Robinson
Like Thompson's work itself, it sometimes feels like a smoke screen, a colorful but distracting, distracted set of pretenses hiding as much as they reveal.
75
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Keith Phipps
It's more Thompson-for-beginners than an exhaustive inquiry, but as introductions go, it's thorough and thoughtful.
75
TV Guide
Ken Fox
This handsomely mounted documentary takes the same, indulgent tone that at lot of Thompson's friends and associates seem to have had.
75
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
The film is thorough and entertaining. It's enthusiastic about his contributions, but it's no hagiography, and it serves as both a celebration and a cautionary tale.
75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
Johnny Depp, who portrayed Thompson's alter-ego in Gilliam's film, provides the narration. If there's hagiography here, it's counterbalanced by biographical truth.
75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
The film is annoyingly sketchy on Thompson's early years and education, and it spends so much time on his coverage of the 1972 presidential election and his own race for sheriff of Aspen, Colo., that major aspects of his career get short shrift or go unmentioned.
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Stephen Cole
An amused and affectionate look at the writer who formed a crucial link between the New Journalism of the 1960s and today's blogosphere.
70
Chicago Reader
J.R. Jones
Feels a little soft and boomer-indulgent with its 10,000th rehash of the Nixon years and its soundtrack of trite 60s anthems.
70
Village Voice
Jim Ridley
While the evidence of his spotty post-1970s work is hard to refute, Gonzo proves what a vapid, overvalued commodity edginess is, championing Thompson's best work for brass-tacks insight more than brass-balled outrage.
67
Portland Oregonian
Shawn Levy
Because there was anarchy and randomness in Thompson's life and work, you find it in Gonzo.
67
Christian Science Monitor
Peter Rainer
We are treated to all manner of worshipy recollections from a stable of Thompson's admirers, including, believe it or not, Patrick Buchanan and James Baker. Who said gonzo politics doesn't make for strange bedfellows?
67
Austin Chronicle
Josh Rosenblatt
There's a nagging sense throughout Gonzo that, despite his late-life decline into caricature, Thompson was too complex, too self-mythologized, too big, too American to ever fit onscreen – especially in a movie aiming for "objectivity," which was, for Thompson, the worst of all possible words.
63
Charlotte Observer
Lawrence Toppman
So I was curious to see why we needed a two-hour documentary about the three-hit wonder who cast away his career halfway through life and coasted on celebrity status for 30 years. After seeing Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, I'm still not convinced we do.
63
New York Post
Kyle Smith
It may be impossible to make an uninteresting documentary about Hunter S. Thompson, but is it unfair to ask Gonzo for more Hunter and less Jimmy Carter?
63
Boston Globe
Wesley Morris
Thompson - his brilliance, his self-destruction, and the ground he broke - is always at the center, but the film occasionally loses its focus.
60
Time
Richard Schickel
I think Gonzo, which is wonderfully rich in historical footage, needs some skeptics, some voices suggesting that maybe, just maybe, Thompson was part of the problem, not the solution, when America flirted briefly with revolution (or was it merely anarchy?), leaving consequences that continue to resonate today -- and not always to our advantage.
50
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
Instead of pushing for tough answers to difficult questions, this film is content to mythologize Thompson's bad-boy behavior, celebrating things like his willingness to drink a bottle of bourbon a day and go hunting with a submachine gun.
50
Washington Post
Stephen Hunter
It seems to celebrate him more for his attitude, his fashionably leftist politics, his fame and his friendships than for any meaningful accomplishment.
 The average user rating for this movie is 7.4 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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