For No Good Reason

Opens August 8 at Cinematheque

The creative partnership between gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson and illustrator Ralph Steadman was a rare kind of success; a matching so perfect that you almost don’t notice it, because the image so gracefully complements the text. The fluid brutality of the British cartoonist’s ink-splattered drawings are synonymous with Thompson, whose poetic vulgarity flowed from his typewriter like lava from an angry volcano.

It’s for this reason, though, that a documentary about Ralph Steadman could be a bad idea. He’s so often designated a sidekick of Thompson’s, I worried that such a film might read like supplementary material to the greater Thompson narrative. Fortunately, For No Good Reason never commits that sin.

Steadman always feels like the hero, never the sidekick. But more than Steadman himself, the movie is about his work. It provides a great look at his unique process, which is chaotic and improvisational, but still reveals a technician who has mastered his craft. There’s a difference between improv and accident, and Steadman’s work is never accidental. The scenes of him working are hypnotic.

There’s a reason these scenes are the best in the film. Reason isn’t really a biography, nor is it a portrait. It’s at its best when it’s conversational, but the historical elements are somewhat shoddy. A montage depicting perhaps Steadman’s most defining work, his collaborations with Thompson, is bizarrely edited in a non-linear sequence that doesn’t complement the material. A handful of anecdotes which should be individually hilarious are rolled into one incomprehensible tale.

There are other shortcomings here, too. The soundtrack choices (Jason Mraz, All American Rejects) are anachronistic and inexplicable. Johnny Depp is fine as a sort of narrator/host, but his ubiquity in all Thompson-related media is getting annoying. Regardless, For No Good Reason is still a very good film about an important figure. It further endeared to me an artist I already loved, and that’s certainly something.

Published in Volume 68, Number 29 of The Uniter (August 5, 2014)

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