Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (2008)
HDNet Films/Jigsaw Productions

Description

Oscar winning director Alex Gibney presents a probing look into the uncanny life of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson inventor of gonzo journalism and author of the landmark Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Accompanied by an iconic soundtrack, this fast moving, wildly entertaining film addresses the major touchstones in Thompson s life from his intense and ill fated relationship with the Hell s Angels to his deep involvement in Senator George McGovern s 1972 presidential election.

Collected reviews and ratings

9.2 Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

Gonzo, the documentary by Alex Gibney, taps the full fascination of its subject: Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, the rock & roll Norman Mailer who styled himself as the last honest man in the American asylum, only to be destroyed by his legend.
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9.0 New York Times

And 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.
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8.0 Variety

Alex Gibney's film draws on a rich array of archival interviews, homemovies, signs-of-the-times clips and celebrity reminiscences to chart the dizzying arc of a man who both chronicled and personified edgier aspects of the American 1960s and '70s.
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7.5 TV Guide

This handsomely mounted documentary takes the same, indulgent tone that at lot of Thompson's friends and associates seem to have had. Throughout the missed deadlines, temper tantrums and cruel insults, they knew they were dealing with a man who was in many ways still a child, but one who also happened to have been a genius.
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6.0 The Guardian | Peter Bradshaw

This documentary about his life, though entertaining in many ways, is oddly uninterested in his strengths or otherwise as a writer, the very gift for which Thompson earnestly wished to be known.
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5.0 Los Angeles Times

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.
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5.0 Washington Post

The film is undone by an issue that challenges all biographical documentaries. It can show only what's already there, and there's a lot more on some issues than others.
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