Before watching this movie, I had nearly no idea who Larry Flynt was.

I read a quick
summary a few minutes before watching it, but I hardly knew any specific details. After
watching it, I know exactly who he is, and what he stands for. He stands for freedom of
speech. Some might call him a pervert. Others call him a patriot. I believe he is the latter.
While I don't know the exact story of Larry Flynt from any other sources than this movie, I
don't know if it's completely accurate. The plot is great, for a biographic piece, the acting is
superb, by most actors, especially the three main characters. Most of the cinematography
fits the movie perfectly. The only thing that bothered me a little, was there was relatively
little information about why Larry Flynt did what he did, believed what he believed so
strongly. I sympathized with his character in several scenes, but I never fully understood
him. The director should have had at least a few more emotional scenes with Larry, to
explain his actions better. Overall, a very good drama. Recommendable to most fans of the
genre, as long as they can stand what the movie shows them. If you have an open mind,
you're not too easily offended and you're into autobiographical dramas, this is a good film to
watch. 8/10

Larry Flynt, the self-proclaimed king of smut, as an American hero? Unlikely

as it may seem, that's the scenario set up and successfully pursued by Milos
Forman's (One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Amadeus) latest venture, The
People vs. Larry Flynt. While this movie doesn't say anything that we haven't
learned in high school civics classes, it gives names and faces to the
subjects, and they're not portrayed by the likes of Henry Fonda and James
Stewart. Instead of "righteous" men stepped upon by the system, we're
presented with a person who has been demonized not only by the religious
right, but by the mainstream press. Nevertheless, when Larry Flynt won his
case before the Supreme Court in 1987, we all emerged victorious. His
wasn't just a fight for his own rights, but a battle for everyone who cherishes
the freedoms afforded by the First Amendment.
Perhaps the most obvious flaw in The People vs. Larry Flynt is making the
central figure too likable. He's played by Woody Harrelson, an actor who has
been synonymous with good-naturedness since his days on Cheers. And,
with the real Flynt taking a bit part (an unsympathetic judge who presides
over the first trial), and his lawyer, Alan Isaacman, acting as consultant, it's
reasonable to wonder how much the publishing magnate's image has been
smoothed over to make him more palatable to an unbiased viewing
audience. It's no great stretch to assume that Flynt wasn't the civil rights
advocate he comes across as being, since, by his own admission, he was
"just trying to make an honest buck."
The First Amendment has always offered fertile ground for exploration by
movies, books, and debates. No virgin territory is investigated here, but the
film relentlessly hammers home the reasons why our constitutional freedoms
are so important. To paraphrase Isaacman (played by Edward Norton), we
don't have to like what Larry Flynt does to appreciate that we live in a
country where he's free to do it. That's the crux of what The People vs. Larry
Flynt is trying to say, and it's a theme that is effectively conveyed.
Of course, if that's all Larry Flynt was -- a textbook examination of First
Amendment rights -- this would be a rather dry experience. But Forman,
from a script by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, tells a much richer
and more complex story. With varying degrees of success, The People vs.
Larry Flynt presents a character study of its main subject, a look at how he
raised an empire from a small group of strip bars, and the sometimes-tender,
sometimes-turbulent love story between Flynt and his wife, Althea (Courtney
Love). And, since this movie is about the publisher of a skin magazine,
there's plenty of bare flesh to go around (although, it should be noted, the
movie's "R" rating prevents the raunchy displays of explicitness that can be
found in Hustler magazine).
The most moving aspect of the film is undoubtedly the relationship between
Larry and Althea, and the scenes of these two together contain elements of
eroticism and genuine romance. Part of this is due to the fine, uninhibited
performance of Courtney Love; part is because Woody Harrelson seems most
comfortable in these sequences. Several scenes in the second half of the
movie, with an impotent Larry confined to a wheelchair and Althea strung
out on drugs, are heartbreaking to watch.
The People vs. Larry Flynt picks up Flynt's story in 1972 (after a brief, telling
prologue twenty years earlier), when he's trying to drum up business for his
"Hustler" go-go clubs. His solution: start a "newsletter" with lots of pictures
of naked women. Soon, Hustler is a nationwide publication, but poor sales
resulting from candid depictions of female genitalia threaten to financially
ruin its publisher. Then Flynt manages an amazing coup. The Hustler issue
featuring pictures of a naked Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis sells in excess of
2,000,000 copies and puts the magazine in the big leagues. Suddenly, Flynt
becomes the target of obscenity and pandering law suits, with big guns like
Charles Keating (James Cromwell) and Jerry Falwell (Richard Paul) lined up
against him.
Through the whole struggle, Flynt is supported by three people: his lawyer,
Isaacman; his brother, Jimmy (Brett Harrelson); and, of course, Althea. When
Flynt first meets the love of his life, she's a bisexual stripper working in one
of his joints. She challenges him: "They say you've slept with every girl in
every one of your clubs." The next day, they're living together, and, after a
time, they're married. Their marriage, like Flynt's life, goes through a series
of rocky times, but Althea sticks by her husband's side no matter what, even
when Ruth Carter Stapleton (Donna Hanover) briefly converts him into a
born-again Christian.
Why is The People vs. Larry Flynt entertaining? Probably because the lead
character is so much bigger than life, and perhaps because, by making him
into a sympathetic man, we're spared the darkest portions of his personality.
There's no doubt that Flynt is a compelling figure, but his crusade for
personal freedom is only part of the reason. Sex undoubtedly sells, and
Forman doesn't skimp on it here. Ultimately, it doesn't matter much how
true-to-life everything on screen is. What's important is that The People vs.
Larry Flynt tells a good, intelligent story that keeps us interested and
involved. Since that's what happens, the verdict is clear: see the movie. You
don't have to like the man to support his struggles and enjoy this
dramatization of them.

How you feel about The People Vs. Larry Flynt is going to depend a lot on how
you feel about Larry Flynt himself. A hillbilly who rose from moonshine-brewing to
running a strip club, Flynt got rich with Hustler magazine and became an
American dissident while being prosecuted for various types of obscenity. The
crux of this biopic is that defending the First Amendment Rights of the American
Constitution (the bit about freedom of expression) means defending Flynt's right
to publish sleazy porn and offend Moral Majority preacher Jerry Falwell (Richard
Paul).

Forman might have been attracted to the Larry Flynt story because he is well
aware most countries would have Flynt quietly dropped in a canal rather than let
him take his case to the Supreme Court. Working from a canny script by the Ed
Wood team of Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, Forman goes through
Flynt's sleazeball career and lets the issues sneak up on the audience.

Woody Harrelson, a rare movie star who doesn't mind playing repulsive, is a
powerhouse as Flynt - the real article cameos as a bigoted judge - modelling a
range of hideous 70s leisure suits or offensive T-shirts. He goes through a
bizarre religious phase, is crippled by a sniper's bullet, is medicated for years,
sprouts green fur on his teeth and finally lets his lawyer (Norton) plead a dignified
case in defence of a libel suit brought by Falwell.

The other significant character is Althea (Love), an ex-stripper who convinces

Flynt that marriage doesn't mean giving up group sex but reacts to his crippling
by becoming a heroin addict. Love, doing extremely well in her first star role,
can't quite manage the jailbait scenes, but grows into the part marvellously,
providing a quiet example of the downside of the "Hustler philosophy".

The film finds it far easier to humanise and understand Flynt than Falwell, who is
set up as a hypocritical creep with dodgy business associates and therefore
never taken seriously.
In the end, this has a problem traveling: it's designed to provoke debate about
the issues but, as the current Crash controversy all too obnoxiously reminds us,
the UK doesn't have a constitution affording us the freedoms Flynt and Falwell
are blessed with.

In 1953, 10-year-old Larry Flynt is selling moonshine in Kentucky. Twenty years later, Flynt (Woody
Harrelson) and his younger brother, Jimmy (Brett Harrelson) run the Hustler Go-Go club in Cincinnati.
With profits down, Flynt decides to publish a newsletter for the club, the first Hustler magazine, with nude
pictures of women working at the club. The newsletter soon becomes a full-fledged magazine, but sales
are weak. In 1975, after Hustler publishes nude pictures of former first lady Jackie Kennedy Onassis,
sales take off.

Flynt becomes smitten with Althea Leasure (Courtney Love), a stripper who works at one of his clubs.
With Althea and Jimmy's help, Flynt makes a fortune from sales of Hustler. With his success comes
enemies - as he finds himself a hated figure of anti-pornography activists. He argues with the activists,
saying that "murder is illegal, but if you take a picture of it you may get your name in a magazine or
maybe win a Pulitzer Prize". "However", he continues, "sex is legal, but if you take a picture of that act,
you can go to jail". He becomes involved in several prominent court cases, and befriends a young lawyer,
Alan Isaacman (Edward Norton). In 1975, Flynt loses a smut-peddling court decision in Cincinnati but is
released from jail soon afterwards on a technicality. Ruth Carter Stapleton (Hanover), a Christian activist
and sister of President Jimmy Carter, seeks out Flynt and urges him to give his life to Jesus. Flynt seems
moved and starts letting his newfound religion influence everything in his life, including Hustler content.

In 1978, during another trial in Georgia, Flynt and Isaacman are both shot by a man with a rifle while they
walk outside a courthouse. Isaacman recovers, but Flynt is paralyzed from the waist down and uses a
wheelchair for the rest of his life. Wishing he was dead, Flynt renounces God. Because of the emotional
and physical pain, he moves to Beverly Hills, California and spirals down into depression and drug use.
During this time, Althea also becomes addicted to painkillers and morphine.

In 1983, Flynt undergoes back surgery to deaden several nerves, and as a result, feels rejuvenated. He
returns to an active role with the publication, which, in his absence, had been run by Althea and Jimmy.
That same year, Flynt is soon in court again for leaking videos relating to the John DeLorean entrapment
case, and during his courtroom antics, he fires Isaacman, then throws an orange at the judge. He later
wears an American flag as an adult diaper along with an army helmet, and wears T-shirts with
provocative messages such as "I Wish I Was Black" and "Fuck This Court." After spitting water at the
judge Flynt is sent to a psychiatric ward, where he sinks into depression again. He is diagnosed with
having bipolar disorder and forced to take treatment.

During this time, Flynt publishes a satirical parody ad in which Christian fundamentalist preacher Jerry
Falwell tells of a sexual encounter with his mother. Falwell sues for libel and emotional distress. Flynt
countersues for copyright infringement, because Falwell copied his ad. The case goes to trial in
December 1984, but the decision is mixed, as Flynt is found guilty of inflicting emotional distress but not
libel.

By that time, Althea has contracted HIV, which proceeds to AIDS. Some time later in 1987, Flynt finds her
dead in the bathtub, having drowned. Flynt presses Isaacman to appeal the Falwell decision to the
Supreme Court of the United States. Isaacman refuses, saying Flynt's courtroom antics humiliated him.
Flynt pleads with him, saying that he "wants to be remembered for something meaningful". Isaacman
agrees and argues the "emotional distress" decision in front of the Supreme Court, in the case Hustler
Magazine v. Falwell in 1988. With Flynt in the courtroom, the court overturns the original verdict in a
unanimous decision. After the trial, Flynt is alone in his bedroom watching old videotapes of a healthy
Althea.