Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes
Amy Nicholson, I.E. Weekly: Alex Gibney's documentary can't decide if it's a eulogy for fans or a primer for acquaintances. Read more
Tasha Robinson, Chicago Tribune: Accessible, entertaining and hugely kinetic, packed with memorable songs from Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and many more icons of Thompson's era. Read more
David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: A tender, even-tempered elegy to a writer who at his peak could ingest staggering (literally) amounts of drugs and alcohol and transform, like Popeye after a can of spinach, into a superhuman version of himself. Read more
Keith Phipps, AV Club: It's more Thompson-for-beginners than an exhaustive inquiry, but as introductions go, it's thorough and thoughtful. Read more
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Gonzo is an excellent reminder that Thompson was more than just a wild man. He was, at least for a time, a first-rate writer who covered his times and helped shape them. Read more
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: The documentary doubles as a jukebox of banality. Read more
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Too much time in this overly long film is spent on minutiae. Read more
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Though Thompson's long slide into irrelevance in the 80s and 90s is duly noted, most of the movie covers his glory days during the Vietnam era, when he was arguably the most exciting and important literary talent in America. Read more
Joe Leydon, Houston Chronicle: Neatly balancing full-hearted celebration with evenhanded examination. Read more
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: The worshipfulness obscures the sadder aspects of Thompson's life, which is perhaps why Gibney focuses on the writer's 1965-75 golden years. Read more
Tom Long, Detroit News: Gonzo shows the man, warts and all. Read more
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Gonzo, the documentary by Alex Gibney, taps the full fascination of its subject: Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. Read more
Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail: An amused and affectionate look at the writer who formed a crucial link between the New Journalism of the 1960s and today's blogosphere. Read more
Kyle Smith, New York Post: At its worst, the film takes a long detour into Thompson's admiration for an utterly banal 1974 Carter speech (The Powerful were sticking it to The People again) as a way to make us feel virtuous, political and leftish. Read more
Andrew Sarris, New York Observer: Gonzo is a must-see for everyone. Read more
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Filmmaker Alex Gibney had access to those who knew the guy, the famous, the infamous and the obscure, and he paints a picture of a serious journalist who saw himself documenting 'the death of the American Dream.' Read more
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Gibney also wants to honor what it was that made Thompson a celebrity in the first place: his brilliant, blotto writing, and his ability to smell out the liars and the hypocrites and expose them for the feral beasts that they were. Read more
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: It is all you could wish for in a doc about the man. But it leaves you wondering, how was it that so many people liked this man who does not seem to have liked himself? And what about the hangovers? Read more
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: It's a fond warts-and-all portrait of a writer who stands alongside Jack Kerouac and Walt Whitman as an American original. Read more
Peter Howell, Toronto Star: [Director] Gibney assembles a wealth of Thompson memorabilia and first-person interviews for this often insightful and sometimes overly indulgent chronicle. Read more
Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson is a valuable reclamation of the political from the personal. Read more
Dave Calhoun, Time Out: 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. Read more