Movie Review: The People vs Larry Flynt

The People vs Larry Flynt

Milos Forman - Director
Woody Harrelson - Larry Flynt
Courtney Love - Althea Leasure
Edward Norton - Alan Isaacman
Brett Harrelson - Jimmy Flynt
Donna Hanover - Ruth Carter Stapleton
Crispin Glover - Arlo
James Cromwell - Charles Keating

Woody Harrelson sporting the latest in courtroom fashion in The People vs Larry Flynt

The People vs Larry Flynt is, at its core, a movie about two things: It is a love story between Larry Flynt and Althea Leasure, and it is a film about the First Amendment. Larry Flynt is the producer of Hustler magazine, which for those of you don't know...well, you all know what Hustler magazine is. Flynt is played superbly by Woody Harrelson as a man who knows what he wants in life and won't let anything stand in his way.

Hustler magazine began as a 'newsletter' advertising Larry's strip club. The newsletter was several pages long, featuring nude photos of the girls who danced there. Larry, dissatisfied with Playboy which he felt was too highbrow for regular people who just wanted something to jerk off to, decided to publish Hustler as a full blown magazine. The first issue tanked, and it appeared as though Hustler magazine would go broke before it had the chance to publish a second one. Larry, however, would get a phone call from someone claiming that he had nude photos of Jackie Onassis Kennedy. A month later, Jackie O and Hustler magazine were all over the news and Larry Flynt was a millionare.

His newfound fame quickly landed Larry in a courtroom, his first of many visits. Some of the lawsuits against him had some merit. others did not. His lawyer, Alan Isaacman, summed it up in that first courtroom visit when he said "I'm not asking you to like what Larry Flynt does. I don't like what Larry Flynt does. What I do like is that I live in a country where I have that choice, where I can choose to pick up Hustler magazine if I wish or throw it in the garbage if that's where I think it belongs." The bottom line is that the first amendment has to protect unpopular speech, otherwise it is useless. Flynt at one point is showing a slide show which consist of alternating photographs of war attrocities and pornography and questioning how people could possibly find a bare breast more offensive than a dead, mutilated body. The man makes a good point. I don't think Larry Flynt was a patriot; I think he fought for free speech out of self-interest and a desire to screw with the system. Larry Flynt was just a regular guy who wanted to make some money by catering to the basest human desires. He went from running moonshine as a child to owning a stripclub to publishing a porno magazine. Larry's much celebrated courtroom battles and business ventures are just part of the story.

The relationships are what keep the movie from being just a courtroom drama. Larry has a love/hate relationship with his lawyer Alan Isaacman (played by Edward Norton.) Once Flynt gets inside a courtroom, he can't help but be vulgar and disrespectful, showing the judges and lawyers that he finds them just as repulsive as they find him. The "FUCK THIS COURT" T-shirt shown in the above picture was an especially nice touch. At one point Alan tells Larry that he is no longer going be his lawyer and that he's had enough, to which Flynt responds "C'mon! I'm your dream client! I'm the most fun, I'm rich, and I'm always in trouble!"

The other key relatioship in the film is between Flynt and his wife, Althea. Althea (played incredibly well by Courtney Love) is a bisexual stripper in Larry's club and a drug addict. Even though Larry and Althea are definitely not monogamous, you can see that they truly do love each other, most importantly through the darker years after Larry is shot and paralyzed after one of his court hearings. Larry is a decent, if crude, man. He reminds me of Couch only without the ability to keep his mouth shut when he should. This is a fine movie and definitely worth watching at least once. It may make some people squirm, but these are likely the people that need this movie's message the most.

3.5 wombats out of 4.