The idea that genius relies on emotional dysfunction isn’t really questioned here. And perhaps it should be.

| Apr 25, 2023

Thompson shot himself in despair. The critical issue, which the film sidesteps, is the utterly moribund state of American liberalism.

| Mar 5, 2021

Gonzo is an intimate portrait of a character who was truly larger than life.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Oct 31, 2019

Gibney's focus on Thompson at his most politically relevant is welcome, but it renders the broader picture less than complete, particularly when it comes to his early life influences.

| Sep 12, 2018

It serves both as an introduction to the life and times of an influential American and as a way to reflect on the ways in which news is handled today.

| Feb 3, 2018

Thompson is dead but his skepticism survives. In the land of endless corruption, the muckraker is king, if only in the moral sense.

| Aug 15, 2011

This movie has confirmed my suspicion that people need to leave Hunter S. Thompson's story alone for a while.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 24, 2011

Alex Gibney's documentary (aligns) the Gonzo's descent into madness with the decline of American values.

| Aug 9, 2010

Gonzo's brilliance is in showing Thompson warts and all, without taking anything away from his greatness even as it shows his many deficiencies.

| Original Score: 7.7/10 | Jun 12, 2010

Alex Gibney's documentary about bad boy journalist Dr. Hunter S. Thompson is both a memorial exaltation and a lament. Gibney's masterful style balances verite and dramatic effect. He doesn't doesn't tell you what to think, but spurs you to think.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | May 26, 2009

A colorful documentary about the famed journalist and author, Hunter S. Thompson, spiced up with movie clips of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and other works based on Thompson's writings.

| Original Score: B | Feb 5, 2009

A definitive, accessible, even inspiring screen biography put together with thought and vitality.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 19, 2008

The film's plea that we need Thompson now more than ever is a little misty-eyed: Thompson's day was long gone by the time he put a gun to his head.

| Original Score: 4/6 | Dec 19, 2008

Much like the man himself, it's quite a piece of work.

| Original Score: 4.5/5 | Dec 19, 2008

Gonzo is much more than a tribute to a maverick and genuine pioneer. It's a lament for the gaping hole that Thompson left behind. The only obvious weakness is Gibney's reluctance to engage fully with Thompson's toxic personal life.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 19, 2008

This documentary about his life by Alex Gibney, 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.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 19, 2008

Director Alex Gibney has plundered 200 hours of audiotapes, hundreds of photos and personal testimony from an impressive roster of Thompson's colleagues and family to put together an even-handed portrait.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 19, 2008

A straight-line journey through the good doctor's loopy myth and madness, but one that doesn't push far enough into uncharted territory. Fine as a primer, but Gibney leans more towards admiration than examination.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 19, 2008

The film is content to laugh affectionately at Thompson's bad boy exploits, giggle at the impatience of a man who went hunting boar with a sub machine-gun.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 19, 2008

Crackingly entertaining documentary.

| Dec 19, 2008