Before the Fresno Filmwork's showing of "Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson" had even begun (the 8:15 p.m. showing I attended, at least), the guy on the stage says,

"This is the most young people I've ever seen at a Fresno Filmworks event."

To which I answered (at least in my head): "That's what you get when you show films young people want to see," then immediatley cursed myself for being such a jackass.

But the theater was filled with a bunch of young ruffian types(hipsters/writers/musicans/artists) and the whole thing was bubbling over with energy. The crowd burst into wild applause and clapping at several points. But that could have been drugs and booze. This was a film about Hunter Thompson after all.

For those who don't know (and haven't yet stopped reading) Hunter Thompson was an author/journalist of sorts, who drank/smoked too much, did far too many drugs and created a little thing known as Gonzo Journalism.

Mostly, he lived a crazy fucked up life that included:

1.) Making buddies with the Hell's Angels, who kicked the shit out of him. Then he wrote a book about it.
2.) Running for sherrif in Aspen Colorado under the platform that drugs should be legalized.
3.) Taking his life with a .44 magnum in his colorado home with his family in the other room. It's how he wanted it.

But he was also fiercely political and some of the best scenes in the film came courtesy of Pat Robertson, to whom Thomspson was less than nice. The scenes of Thomspson during the 1972 Presidential campaign had special significance these days. And anyone who's read Thompson's take on 1980s politics in the age of Reagan/Bush/Ollie North, "Generation of Swine," has to wonder what the heck he would have thought of the craziness happening now.

But the biggest suprise of the movie: Thompson was friends with Jimmy Buffett? Really? Who knew Jimmy Buffett was cool.