For No Good Reason
Johnny Depp pays a visit to his friend, artist Ralph Steadman, exploring the career and activism of the renown artist and the last of the original Gonzo visionaries. Terry Gilliam, Richard E. Grant and others also discuss Steadman's art and influence.
1957, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
13 February 1933, Finsbury Park, London, England, UK
18 July 1937, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
9 January 1913, Yorba Linda, California, USA
5 May 1957, Mbabane, Union of South Africa [now Swaziland]
9 June 1963, Owensboro, Kentucky, USA
7 January 1946, New York City, New York, USA
October 25, 1881 in Málaga, Andalucía, Spain
22 November 1940, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
5 February 1914, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
22 May 1907, Dorking, Surrey, England, UK
15 May 1936, Wallasey, Cheshire, England, UK
November 09, 2014
The process of creating a painting isn't as automatically intertesting as, say, that of making a film, but...the technical and artistic inspirations that fuel an artist can sometimes be as fascinating as the finished work.
October 29, 2014
It's satisfying that the film exists, as an overdue tribute to an artist who can be appreciated even by those with limited patience for Thompson's posturing prose.
May 29, 2014
Giving an overlooked luminary his due is reason enough for "For No Good Reason."
August 15, 2014
[For No Good Reason] paints a strong portrait of the illustrator through archival footage, photography, and long discussions with Steadman about his artistic process.
May 22, 2014
This is most worthwhile for its scenes of Steadman at work, flinging ink all over the place and turning the splatter marks into his signature grotesques.
May 29, 2014
The film makes it clear that not only was Steadman perfect for Thompson's work (and a big part of his success), his work stands on its own artistically.
May 16, 2014
For No Good Reason sidelines Steadman's own bona fides, functioning primarily as a second-hand documentary of Thompson, stoking the hagiography of the late hipster icon.
May 29, 2014
As wonderful as it is to watch the man work, and to review many of the startling images he created over the years, the film has its dead spots.
October 30, 2014
Despite intending to expand upon Steadman's output and impact, the documentary boils the importance of his oeuvre down to the obvious.
July 11, 2014
A film for admirers of artist Ralph Steadman, people whose politics align with Steadman's politics and the most devoted followers of Steadman's celebrity fan, Johnny Depp.
June 05, 2014
Meet Ralph Steadman and his nightmare visions of a world in pain, revealed in a mesmerizing documentary.
October 10, 2014
Steadman's illustrations could burst with baroque details, but one thing you would never call them is "busy." They had a focus, a mission, that "For No Good Reason" often lacks.
