I don't know a lot about Thompson although I did read the Hell's Angels book a couple of times and I saw (the very awful) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I have always felt that he was a man I prefer never to meet in person and wouldn't have wanted him for a neighbor. Although I am very much a child (??) of the sixties, I was more mouth than intellect. As a young lawyer, I was active of the civil rights and anti-war movements, but didn't have much interest in political campaigns. Hated Nixon and voted for whoever the Democratic candidate was.
Thus I am surprised how much I enjoyed this movie. It brought back the sixties and seventies very vividly--the music and the documentary footage was very effective.
Yes, it was fairly uncritical of Thompson. Tellingly, however, it closed with his ex-wife taking umbrage with the statement that his suicide was "heroic." As it is with most suicides, his was the act of a terribly angry man who was bound to show us how much we would miss him. Well, I'm still around & so is his wife & so many others. I actually felt sorry for him...I wonder if he ever had a truly happy day.
This movie, then, for me, should have been subtitled "The Times of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson," because that was where it was most successful.
Thus I am surprised how much I enjoyed this movie. It brought back the sixties and seventies very vividly--the music and the documentary footage was very effective.
Yes, it was fairly uncritical of Thompson. Tellingly, however, it closed with his ex-wife taking umbrage with the statement that his suicide was "heroic." As it is with most suicides, his was the act of a terribly angry man who was bound to show us how much we would miss him. Well, I'm still around & so is his wife & so many others. I actually felt sorry for him...I wonder if he ever had a truly happy day.
This movie, then, for me, should have been subtitled "The Times of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson," because that was where it was most successful.