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BUY THE TICKET,
TAKE THE RIDE
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His passing hurt me and continues to hurt me in little ways. It's not that his work fails to stand the test of time. It's not that he actually needed to be here, or that there is more work. It's because his life, such as it was to him and others, is a beacon of hope for those who type in quiet rooms and dream of grander schemes than this.
Nonetheless, he realized the efficiency of what he was doing, and continued it to his ultimate demise. I can't say that the best part of this is the interviews. I gain no profound new insight from hearing things that I already knew, that he lived each day like it was the last, that he was a road king like other road kings before him. This is no tightly wound statement like Bukowski: Born into This. What this movie allows is someone who is still grieving an excuse to see some of the great things Hunter was, and it does this job the best it can without being a book. I enjoyed the hell out of it. It reopened a closing wound, but that's okay. Hunter would have liked that, I think. And I hope that wound never closes, that I never get so lulled into a false sense of security by false idols of typicality that I close my eyes to brilliance past and through it brilliance yet to come. I miss Hunter.
At times, they even cut from Hunter describing himself to Depp describing Hunter, ending Hunter's speech. I understand why they do this. Depp is Hunter to most people. But honestly, though it might have been less dynamic, I would have preferred to see Hunter spout more and Hollywood folk spout less, because all they do is pale in their imitation of this man who, while he might not be as palatable as Depp, nonetheless had a quiet grace that could have been pulled out.
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It's been almost two years since Hunter Thompson took a gun and ended
his life, and with it, a little piece of my life. I can count on one
hand the number of truly unique and original voices I've had the good
fortune to encounter in my post-modern, electronic, horrid LCD life, and
of those, Hunter Thompson is one.
There is a lot of Hunter here, but not enough. Most of this film is
other people thinking about what Hunter meant to them, and clips from
movies representing his life. I was dismayed that by Hunter Thompson on
Film they largely meant Johnny Depp and Bill Murray, who Thompson said
got it wrong, ultimately (Murray).
All of that said, however, as I stated, this is still a loving homage,
top to bottom, and shows sides of Hunter that I'd never seen. Incredible
work, and I hope to see more like it in the future.