Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride: Hunter S. Thompson on Film (2006)

A documentary on the life and death of Hunter S. Thompson.

Director:

Tom Thurman

Writer:

Tom Marksbury

Stars:

Ed Bradley, Bob Braudis, Douglas Brinkley

Cast

Credited cast:
Ed Bradley	...	Himself
Bob Braudis	...	Himself
Douglas Brinkley	...	Himself
William F. Buckley	...	Himself
Gary Busey	...	Himself
John Cusack	...	Himself
Benicio Del Toro	...	Himself
Johnny Depp	...	Himself
F.X. Feeney	...	Himself
Gary Hart	...	Himself
Art Linson	...	Himself
Leonard Maltin	...	Himself
George McGovern	...	Himself
Bill Murray	...	Himself
Laila Nabulsi	...	Herself

Storyline

"Buy The Ticket, Take The Ride: Hunter S. Thompson On Film is a personal, intimate look at Thompson with a special emphasis on his Hollywood relationships. It captures the legacy and "gonzo" spirit of one of this century's most notorious figures - a man whose life and work regularly intersected with some of the biggest names in the world of film, politics, journalism and sports. The documentary features interviews with Hunter's inner circle of family and friends, but the thrust of the film is focused on the manner in which his life often overlapped with numerous Hollywood celebrities who became his close friends, such as Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas); Bill Murray (Where the Buffalo Roam); Sean Penn, John Cusack, Hunter's wife Anita, son Juan, former Senators George McGovern and Gary Hart, Tom Wolfe, William F. Buckley, Gary Busey, Harry Dean Stanton, Ralph Steadman and others.

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 December 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Купи билет - и в дорогу!

Company Credits

Production Co:

FBN Productions, Starz Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

73 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Edited from Breakfast with Hunter (2003)

User Reviews

HST would have liked it.

I just viewed this film OnDemand. A weird and perilous 73 minute jaunt through several highlights of HST's life. While not as detailed as other treatments of the subject matter, this film makes up for its lack of depth by a sweeping breadth of scope, and is more pleasing to the middle-of-the-road HST enthusiast, with less drug use, less profanity, less crotchety-ness, more Hollywood types commenting, more clips from Where the Buffalo Roam and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and overall, a more human treatment of the man behind the myth that HST has become.

In this treatment, we see more of the Owl Creek Ranch, more of HST's first and second wives commenting, and more of Hunter at home than in previous films. Hunter appears to be more relaxed at home than anywhere else he has been interviewed. I particularly liked the airing of a couple of messages that HST left on answering machines... these give the viewer a feel for the real person and not so much the persona.

The film also gives reasonable closure for HST's exit from humanity... taking the Hemingway option in view of his increasing physical disability and age-related deterioration. HST was always in charge of his own freedom, and this chosen end was one more celebration of his freedom to do exactly what he wanted, when he wanted it. Thanks for a good film. I'll watch it again when I need my next Gonzo-fix.