This rip-roaring tribute to a maverick artist trips along like a surreal odyssey, punctuated by lively reminiscences, choice clips and superb photographic material.
Along for the Ride, completed in 2016 and now in limited theatrical release after some festival dates, beautifully interweaves personal and archival footage and rare photos with commentary from an array of Hopper associates and friends.
As it circles the life and legacy of actor, artist and filmmaker Dennis Hopper, the documentary "Along for the Ride" uses the standard tools of the medium, but it follows his renegade spirit and produces something entirely unique.
Nick Ebeling's movie sets its sights on adulatory tribute, needlessly venerating films like "The Last Movie" and generally adorning Hopper's legacy with saintliness.
Held together by a deliciously ominous score by Gemma Thompson and striking b&w cinematography, Along for the Ride isn't the final word on Dennis Hopper, but it's a fun trip.
What's ultimately moving about "Along for the Ride" is that it communicates how Dennis Hopper, by sticking true to his reckless muse, was an artist who changed things, and maybe changed everything.
The snazzy, stylish black and white photography is not only appropriately expressionistic for the dips and valleys of Hopper's career; it gives the film a sense of visual personality that's often sorely lacking in bio-docs.
But in the end the film seems overly worshipful of its subject, pressing us too hard to admire him as the prototype of the romantically self-destructive artist.
