Eddie “Gonzo” Gilman (Ezra Miller) has a mission: uncover the dirt and grime going on behind the scenes of the prep school he attends. After being muscled out by stereotypical jock/popular guy/asshole Gavin Riley (Jesse McCartney), he and his group of nebbish friends go into underground publishing. Soon, the Gonzo Files becomes a massive success, delivering hard-hitting reporting with splashes of gossip that the unpopular and ignored feel empowered by. As Gonzo’s movement begins to grow, however, so do the opposing forces that are trying to take him down.
It’s impossible to start talking about Beware The Gonzo without first examining its protagonist. Think of him as a more focused Max Fischer from Rushmore: rather than investing all of his time in putting on school plays, starting bee-keepers clubs and getting rid of language programs, he is simply all journalism, all the time. But while the film is meant to stand on his character, the fatal flaw is that Gonzo is, in fact, an egotistical, selfish jackass that the audience will have a hard time trying to cheer for and relate to (as amazing as Hunter S. Thompson is, what kind of asshole puts his nickname on every shirt he owns?). Things start well for him, as he protects one of his nerdier friends (Edward Gelbinovich) from being abused by the school’s wrestling team, but goes far downhill from that point forward, at first using the Gonzo Files to smear popular kids whose who appear to have done nothing other than be well liked, before using his friends and their secrets as his weapon to take down his enemy. Sure, his world falls apart towards the end, revealed in a video log that starts the film, but one mea culpa later and everything falls back into place in his favor.
As far as high school comedies go, writer Bryan Goluboff, who also directed the film, doesn’t seem to have made an earnest effort for original characters, which are as stock as they come: the uptight mom (Amy Sedaris) concerned about her son’s future; the laid-back dad (Campbell Scott) who wants his son to fight the power; the hot chick with a history (Zoe Kravitz) that sides with said outcasts to get her own revenge, etc. That’s not even including the villain, who, for the first half of the film, is only the enemy because he doesn’t like Gonzo’s story ideas and edits down one of his pieces (albeit that last bit I can relate to).
What does save the film is that it does succeed in being funny occasionally. Leading the film in this department are “Horny” Rob, played by Griffin Newman, who ignores all of the hot girls in school in favor of ones with physical deformities and weight problems, assuming that they are desperate and more willing to put out (misogynistic sure, but good for more than a few laughs); and Ming Na (Stefanie Y. Hong), who’s hatred of the popular girls is so deep that you begin to wonder if she will develop telekinetic powers. The more time that is spent with the humorless Gonzo, the more you want to see of these two.
While the film does have its flaws, they border on acceptable simply because the film doesn’t try and be anything more than it is. Sure, social class dichotomy is amped up about 600%, but since when is that a new thing in films about teenagers? The protagonist is overdone, but Miller plays him well. I could easily balance the scales with this film all day, but the point is this – Beware The Gonzo tells an interesting story with plenty of laughs to keep it going.
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