Beware the Gonzo Review
By David Kempler
Hunter S Thompson Lite
Eddie "Gonzo" Gilman (Ezra Miller) is a disaffected high school student who wants to make his mark on his school's newspaper. However, the head of the paper, Gavin Riley (Jesse McCartney), only cares about pushing his own name to the top of the heap. After losing patience with the situation, Gonzo strikes out on his own, founding an underground paper designed to speak for the underdog students. Joining him is a group of nerds and Evie (Zoë Kravitz), a very pretty young lady who has her own agenda.
What follows is a cat-and-mouse game where Gonzo and Gavin keep upping the ante. You know a showdown is coming and Bryan Goluboff's "Beware the Gonzo" does not disappoint, never taking the easy and predictable route. In fact, it is often very creative, despite some minor missteps.
Goluboff directs in a way that prevents it from trying to be too dramatic and at the same time he refuses to fall victim to the temptation to inject a lot of weak jokes. Instead, he walks a fine line, always keeping us interested, if not breathless with anticipation. The cast is sprinkled with actors you will no doubt recognize and their professionalism keeps everything in line
I also greatly appreciated that Goluboff doesn't give us multiple fake climactic scenes that always make me feel ripped off. Miller reminded me just a wee bit of a young Christian Slater, even if he does appear to be trying too hard in a couple of scenes. "Beware the Gonzo" is a solid outing and could be a launching point for the director and some of the actors. See it so you can tell people that you saw them way back when.
