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

Hunter Thompson, the author of Hells Angels, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ’72, was one of the most compelling voices of 20th-century journalism. He was also a personal wreck, a drug-addled, drunken, gun-wielding maniac who surrounded himself with naked hippies and wealthy ne’er-do-wells and who ruined his talent with fame, excess and self-caricature. Academy Award-winning documentarian Alex Gibney presents Thompson’s life as a way to look at the changing state of American culture and politics over the last 40 years. It’s an effective, sad and challenging film, one that will have you asking how we could allow a worse crook than Richard Nixon to get elected twice in our lifetimes. It’s also a tale of the impotence of the press, and the way that America longed to be—and succeeded in becoming—a cartoon version of itself. Not to be missed by those with an interest in recent history, journalistic trends and naked hippies.