Breakfast with Hunter

Producer/director/writer Wayne Ewing's intimate look at seminal Gonzo journalist and ultimate ‘60s survivor Hunter S. Thompson takes viewers deep into the twisted world of the wacky political chronicler and psychic adventurer. Including bits filmed over a period of 18 years, the central narrative focuses on the mid-‘90s, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the publication of Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971). Personalities on hand to venerate Thompson's writing and share their amazement at his exploits include George McGovern (who figured prominently in Thompson's subsequent Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail), the late George Plimpton, Roxanne Pulitzer, Lyle Lovett, and others too young to have experienced the gonzo years firsthand, such as Johnny Depp and John Cusack. Mainly following Thompson through his various endeavors (capturing him, as Alan Funt used to say, in the act of being himself--much more successfully than Bill Murray did as Thompson in the film Where the Buffalo Roam), one pivotal sequence in the documentary finds Thompson going ballistic when screenwriter Tod Davies and director Alex Cox pitch a cartoon sequence for their adaptation of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Even though they intend to base the artwork on the delightfully warped Ralph Steadman illustrations from the book, Thompson will hear none of it and the confrontation ends with Davies and Cox off the project, delaying the start of filming and imperiling Depp's participation (he did star as Thompson's alter ego in the 1998 Terry Gilliam film). Additionally, a subplot concerning Thompson's impending trial on what he maintains is a woefully trumped-up drunk driving charge runs throughout. DVD bonus footage includes the redoubtable P.J. O'Rourke on Gonzo journalism, drugs, and writing; the late Warren Zevon and Thompson writing lyrics together; and Thompson's revelation of what really happened (more or less) to Oscar Zeta Acosta, his traveling companion in the famed Las Vegas adventure. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: C, P. (M. Tribby)