Micitype Pretty Good

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

slint70 Spoilers======below==== Breakfast with Hunter takes us into the mind of the older HST, the more tamer if you can call it that, the less crazy and the more mature. Well sort of... There are no scenes in which he drops acid and paints his face white with makeup as there was in the first BBC documentary for instance. And there were no scenes of him chasing porn stars around his house. But the vitality, intelligence and spirit of the man is still in full force in this flick. We needed this movie. The man is interesting so in fact actors often stayed in character long after portraying him in film. This film is great, it shows HST in his surroundings with no preconceived notions or antics. He just is and you can get a feel for his natural self, something all good documentaries must strive for.I agree with other reviewers that it is nice to hear others read his writing, but Jon Cusack was annoying. He seemed to have the rhythm all wrong and jumbled, playing it for dramatic effect perhaps after all he is an actor, but alas I digress, good insight into the pre-production stages of Fear and Loathing and the scene with Alex Cox was in good taste. Meaning that HST listened to every word these nincompoops muttered and considered them. "Maybe you can convince me," he said at one point. I thought he showed much resolve until the b-puckey was so sky high he had to bring out the bulldozer. Even Benecio says "Tell him to stay the F888 away from me," in reference to Alex Cox. They obviously had no idea about any of his writing and probably didn't even read the whole book....but anyways....so many snippets of good fun and intelligent conversation that the mind is scrambling to recall them all...Fiddlesticks I'll have to watch it again...The thing that hit hard after i saw this was I was even more saddened he died. Devastated, but I am sure he had some health concerns and was in some pain as others eluded to. Just wish the guy was still around. He could take you to a mountain top by way of the sewer and it was great great ride...You will be missed Doc....RIP

shierfilm The beauty, grace and majesty of HST shines through in this 90 min. doc.He was a giant among men, and the most striking thing about this intimate look at the Gonzo journalist was how conscious he was of everyone and everything around him. You can't put much past this guy- he was ON. At all times.The sequence where he's discussing the first script for Fear & Loathing the film with Alex Cox and his co-writer was the best example of how pure this guy was. He tells them with sharp, curt truth that he's not impressed with the ideas they have for a landmark passage in the book. They want to create an animated wave with Hunter (a cartoon?) riding it into the desert. He says that idea makes him angry and Mr. Cox acts like a buffoon in response. Firing him was a great footnote in the history of the film- who knows how it would have turned out with Cox at the helm.As a longtime admirer of the Good Doctor's work, it was nice to finally see and hear him. HST has a mythic aura about him, an exotic mystery not unlike Stanley Kubrick. He's larger than life, yet if you pay close attention, you'll see that the man was more than just passionate. You'll see that he's deeply emotional, highly mischievous (but he's never malicious) and that he has high regards for his small company of friends and colleagues.He is missed.

certph Wayne Ewing's cinema verité portrait of the Doctor of Gonzo Journalism is a keyhole to the everyday life of Hunter S. Thompson. Through years of edited film without any narration or interview from Ewing, this everyday life given to the viewer comes as a bit of a surprise. It is uncommon yet somehow natural. The Thompson I might have predicted is shown throwing a Chivas Regal bottle, spraying people with a fire extinguisher, manhandling blow-up sex dolls, shooting high-powered revolvers, etc. What I didn't expect is the warm interaction between Thompson and his friends. He embraces what might be considered the basket of a flip-flopped American Dream – Hollywood – in his friendships with John Cusack, Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro and Terry Gilliam (not, however, Alex Cox). This juxtaposition reveals a prevalent theme in Breakfast, and perhaps in Hunter himself.Thompson suggested in the film a rationale for his rambunctious lifestyle when he said he was 'making literature out of what would otherwise be considered craziness.' This is the crux of the film, and the motivation for Hunter. Though he may be essentially crazy, some of the craziness he exudes is forced. For Thompson, it works. With drugs, alcohol, violence, etc. he causes excitement from what would otherwise just be boring. He creates a palette for which to convey his message. He did this in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas through his (Raoul Duke) and his attorney's excessive abuse of drugs to help show the degradation of the American Dream. But can this explain the wild-side Thompson portrayed in Ewing's film? Is their some focused ambition behind spraying Jan Wenner with a fire extinguisher? – or soaking Depp, Del Toro and himself in alcohol by sending an opened bottle of scotch freely whirling into the air? Maybe, maybe not. He takes control of any situation with such a crazy gesture, but if it's for some greater good, I don't know. Perhaps Thompson is so high on his own adrenaline that his antics are now focused on sole personal amusement. I like to think this is the case when he laughs off throwing a blow-up sex doll in front of a moving car, or when he mischievously notices an unaccompanied fire extinguisher in a hallway. - -One personal note: something I felt missing from Ewing's portrait was Thompson's intended funeral. A massively-constructed Gonzo fist rifling a bullet containing his remains to explode above the Owl Farm mountains and then cover them like a blanket of rouge on a wrinkled America in such a way that would dwarf the resurrection of Jesus Christ seems to me to say something personal about Hunter S. Thompson.

Zach-Urbina The documentary is a thinly veiled attempt to "break into" the life of the famed Gonzo fiend and shed light on his inner madness. Many funny scenes throughout the film, especially when Hunter is berating glib English director Alex Cox. The film itself comes across slightly amateur-esque in its editing and presentation, but is certainly a must-see for Hunter fans.