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

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Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
Review added by
David Beckett

Certificate: 18
Running Time: 119
Retail Price: £17.99
Release Date: 13/04/2009
Content Type: Movie

Synopsis:
GONZO is directed by Alex Gibney, the director of the Academy Award winning documentary, Taxi to the Dark Side and Academy Award nominated Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room. While Gibney shaped the screen story, every narrated word in the film springs from the typewriters of Thompson himself. Those words are given life by Johnny Depp, the actor who once shadowed Thompson's every move for the screen version of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Hunter S Thompson was renowned for his idealistic political convictions and savage pursuit of the American Way and the signature of the film is its particular focus on his most provocative and productive period from 1965 to 1975. This includes Hunter's encounters with the Hell's Angels, the Fear And Loathing on The Campaign Trail '72 era when Hunter focused on the Democratic Party's primaries (as incumbent Nixon did little campaigning) and his work for Rolling Stone magazine.

As well as Depp's narration, the film features hilarious, illuminating, and poignant contributions from both those that loved Hunter and those that sparred with him, including the legendary Ralph Steadman, Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner, Hell's Angel Sonny Barger, George McGovern, Pat Buchanan, Jimmy Buffet and Jimmy Carter. According to Kris Kristofferson, Thompson was a "walking contradiction, partly truth, mostly fiction." A die-hard member of the NRA, he was also a coke-snorting, whiskey-swilling, acid-eating fiend. GONZO is the definitive film biography of a mythic American figure.

Special Features:
• Director's Commentary
• Extended interviews
• Extended & Deleted scenes
• Ralph Steadman drawings
• UK exclusive Alex Gibney interview
• Wayward & Weary featurette about tribute song by Tift Merritt
• Gallery
• Trailer