Patricia Garry

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Review: Gonzo

August 24, 2008 By admin

I knew I wanted to see this movie – Gonzo. Not sure what it’s formal second line is, but I’d call it the life and times of Hunter S. Thompson, who invented the word Gonzo, and whose life personified it.

I hadn’t found anyone who wanted to go with me, so on the very last day it was at the Esquire, I went by myself – having popcorn for dinner.

This was a time I lived through, and found nearly as exciting and full of change as the time we’re in right now. Change then was headier – more physical action: marching in the streets, gatherings, festivals, teach-ins, sit-ins. Now we’ve often been numb (until Barack), feeling hopeless as George Bush et al started a war we knew from the beginning was a disaster. Bush has also used the FBI and CIA in the same liberty-destroying ways his predeccessors from that time did.

But I wasn’t as much in it, with small kids, and a heavy volunteer and work schedule. So I got a lot of the background that I had missed – particularly about Hunter himself. He was obviously trying to find salvation in women, drugs and general craziness.

I wonder what would have happened if he hadn’t become famous? Dead in an alley anonymously, I expect. As it is, he got this excellent movie, and got his ashes shot by a rocket all over the Rockies, with Johnny Depp as the narrator. Not bad for one of the neediest, smartest and most problematic characters every portrayed. He put a lot of the color in a very colorful change-making time.

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