Gonzo's fear and loving

Alex Gibney’s intriguing documentary is specifically about the man, filled with drink and drugs — which apparently had little effect on him — and capable of being both courtly and dreadful, sometimes at the same time. But in the end you get to learn more about the times in which he lived than about him.

We get his espousal of the highly intelligent George McGovern’s hopeless bid for the US Presidency, his hatred of Nixon, his admiration for the initial boldness of Carter and his depression at the onset of the Bush era. Strangely we get no mention of either Reagan or Clinton. 

Gibney, who had full access to Thompson’s estate, finding audiotapes, films, photos, drawings and even 600 bars of soap either bought or pilfered from a trip to Las Vegas, gets some great footage from those who knew the man.

Most of them thought he was extraordinary, constantly fighting against the American capacity to elect the wrong people for the wrong reasons. But almost all admit that he was his own worst enemy. Among them are Carter, McGovern, Tom Wolfe, Ralph Steadman, Jimmy Buffett and Jann Wenner. Johnny Depp says a bit, as do (sagely) his former wife and widow.

You would suppose that all this would illuminate Thompson pretty thoroughly. But somehow it says more about America than the man who loved, feared and loathed it at the same time.

Gibney says the film took so much out of him that he limped into the Sundance Festival with a ruptured disc, a green liver and spots in his eyes that will not disappear. I hope he now thinks it worth the trouble. I’m pretty sure watchers will.

The spirit of Gonzo may have died, and it’s a pity Thompson never lived to see the ascent of the blessed Obama, but his best work will live on well beyond his ashes — which were launched on a rocket mounted with a towering two-thumbed fist whose palm held a giant peyote button.

Gonzo