Beware the Gonzo

2010 American film

April 22, 2010 (2010-04-22) (Tribeca)
September 9, 2011 (2011-09-09)

Running time

94 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish

Beware the Gonzo is a 2010 romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Bryan Goluboff. Ezra Miller stars as the eponymous Gonzo, a high school student who creates an underground newspaper. Zoe Kravitz, Jesse McCartney, Griffin Newman, Campbell Scott, and Amy Sedaris appear in supporting roles. Its title refers to a style of first-person confrontational journalism developed by Hunter S. Thompson in the early 1970s.

The film debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2010.

Plot

After being fired from his high school paper by editor Gavin Reilly, Eddie "Gonzo" Gilman establishes an underground paper with his friends Rob Becker, Ming Na, and Schneeman to give a voice to unpopular students. Eddie's idea catches the attention of Evie Wallace, who joins the paper's team out of disdain for Gavin. The first issue causes a commotion throughout the school and Principal Roy and Gavin offer to give Eddie his own section in the main paper if he tones down his content. Eddie, however, refuses to censor his articles, even under the threat of suspension.

For the second issue, Eddie exposes the unsanitary conditions of his school's cafeteria, causing the cafeteria to be closed by the health inspector. The issue brings popularity to Eddie in the high school, which grows when Principal Roy suspends him. He and Evie also enter into a relationship. However, Gavin attempts to damage Eddie's reputation by falsely claiming Eddie staged the conditions as a favor to diner owner Errol, Eddie's first advertiser. Eddie retaliates by writing an exposé on Gavin, in which he reveals Gavin had Schneeman write a paper for him in exchange for not being bullied and humiliated an anonymous girl (Evie) with his friends after having sex with her; information Schneeman and Evie trusted him to keep confidential. After the article is released, Eddie's friends break off contact with him and he is indefinitely suspended from school, pending a likely expulsion.

At the advice of his father, Eddie creates a video apologizing for his actions and his suspension is lifted. The apology earns him back the respect of many of his classmates, although, other than Rob, his friends continue to refuse to speak with him. Nevertheless, Evie reaches out to Eddie again. The two make amends and resume their relationship.

Cast

Ezra Miller as Eddie "Gonzo" Gilman
Zoë Kravitz as Evie Wallace
Griffin Newman as Horny Rob Becker
Stefanie Hong as Ming Na
Edward Gelbinovich as Schneeman^[2]
Jesse McCartney as Gavin Reilly
Amy Sedaris as Diane Gilman
Campbell Scott as Arthur Gilman
James Urbaniak as Principal Roy
Marc John Jefferies as Stone
Lucian Maisel as Malloy
Jerry Grayson as Errol
Yul Vazquez as Charlie Ronald
Judah Friedlander as Cafeteria guy
Noah Fleiss as Ryan
Matthew Shear as Dave Melnick
Conor Leslie as Amy
Colby Minifie as Melanie

Reception

Beware the Gonzo received mixed reviews; the film has a 44% rating on Rotten Tomatoes^[3] and a 36/100 rating on Metacritic.^[4]

References

^ "Beware the Gonzo Movie". Archived from the original on 2010-11-21. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
^ "Tribeca Review: Beware the Gonzo - the Moviefone Blog". Archived from the original on 2012-03-23. Retrieved 2010-11-10.
^ Beware the Gonzo at Rotten Tomatoes
^ Beware the Gonzo at Metacritic