Themes: Rags To Riches, Death of a Partner, Rise and Fall Stories
Main Cast: James Carville, Brett Harrelson, Burt Neuborne, Richard Paul, Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love, Edward Norton, James Cromwell, Crispin Glover
Release Year: 1996
Country: US
Run Time: 129 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
"If the First Amendment will protect a scumbag like me, then it'll protect all of you -- 'cause I'm the worst," declares Hustler Magazine publisher Larry Flynt (as played by Woody Harrelson) in the midst of one of his many court cases. Milos Forman's film follows Flynt from his childhood in Kentucky, where he made extra money for his dirt-poor family by selling the moonshine his father brewed, into adulthood as he manages a strip club in Cincinnati. While the club does middling business, the experience changes Flynt's life in two ways: he meets Althea (Courtney Love), an exotic dancer who becomes the love of his life, and he gets the bright idea of starting a magazine to promote the club. Marketed as a crasser, less pretentious alternative to Playboy or Penthouse, Hustler becomes a huge success after Flynt runs a photo series of Jacqueline Onassis sunbathing nude. However, while plenty of people are buying Hustler, there are also plenty of people who don't care for it, including Charles Keating (James Cromwell), leader of a watchdog group called Citizens For Decent Literature. Keating spearheads the first of many legal attacks on the magazine, one of which reaches the Supreme Court as Alan Isaacman (Edward Norton), Flynt's lawyer, debates the finer legal points of bad taste with the justices of the highest court in the land. Meanwhile, Flynt makes a fortune, loses the use of his legs after an attack by a sniper, embraces and than abandons Christianity, and eventually loses Althea, who succumbs to AIDS after a long addiction to drugs. Woody Harrelson's brother Brett Harrelson is well cast as Larry Flynt's brother Jimmy; Larry Flynt appears briefly as a judge who hands down a judgment against Larry Flynt. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Exceptional performances, a sharp script, and sympathetic direction make Milos Forman's The People Vs. Larry Flynt a genuinely engaging, entertaining and unique rags-to-riches story. Woody Harrelson's Flynt is an endearing, irascible troublemaker and unlikely patriot, not the immoral miscreant and lawbreaker his detractors color him to be. Building upon the fine reputation he founded earlier that year in Primal Fear, Edward Norton is exceptional as Flynt's put-upon lawyer; and Courtney Love's natural, unaffected turn as Flynt's dedicated girlfriend adds a necessary dimension to the film. Larry Flynt is by and large a sympathetic, subjective portrayal of the publisher, and as such, Forman and screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski choose to focus on issues of morality and free-speech; as expected, the film drew some criticism for its omission of Flynt's more unsavory traits. ~ Matthew Doberman, All Movie Guide
Donna Hanover; James Carville; Brett Harrelson - Jimmy Flint; Burt Neuborne; Richard Paul - Rev. Jerry Falwell
Credit
Arianne Phillips - Costume Designer, Theodor Pistek - Costume Designer, Milos Forman - Director, Thomas Newman - Composer (Music Score), Ben Nye, Jr. - Makeup, Anastas Michos - Camera Operator, Patrizia Von Brandenstein - Production Designer, Philippe Rousselot - Cinematographer, Michael Hausman - Producer, Oliver Stone - Producer, Janet Yang - Producer, Maria Nay - Set Designer, Scott Alexander - Screenwriter, Larry Karaszewski - Screenwriter
The film begins by showing young Larry Flynt (Cody Block) at the age of ten, as selling moonshine in an Appalachian region of Kentucky. The narrative then advances 20 years. Flynt (played by Woody Harrelson) and his younger brother, Jimmy (played by Brett Harrelson, Woody Harrelson's younger brother) run a Hustler Go-Go club in Cincinnati. With profits down, Flynt decides to publish a "newsletter" for his club - the first Hustler magazine, full of nude pictures of women working at the club, in the hopes of attracting customers. The newsletter soon becomes a full-fledged magazine, but sales are weak. It's only after Hustler publishes nude pictures of former first lady Jackie Kennedy Onassis that sales take off, partially due to all the publicity surrounding the photos.
Flynt, a habitual womanizer, becomes particularly smitten with Althea Leasure (Courtney Love), a runaway-turned-stripper who works at one of his dance clubs. With help from Althea and Jimmy, Flynt makes a fortune off his sales of Hustler and other business activities. With all his success, naturally, comes enemies - as he finds himself a hated figure of conservative, anti-pornography activists. He argues with the activists, one of a number of themes the film explores; in one scene, he argues that murder is illegal, but if you take a picture of it you may get your name in Time 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.
Flynt becomes involved in several prominent court cases, and befriends a young, whip-smart lawyer, Alan Isaacman (Edward Norton). Flynt loses a smut peddling court decision in Cincinnati, but escapes jail time when the case is thrown out on a technicality, thereby beginning his long clash with the legal system. (The real Larry Flynt plays the presiding judge in a cameo appearance.) Ruth Carter Stapleton (Donna 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, much to the chagrin of staffers and Althea alike.
During another trial in Georgia, Flynt and Isaacman are both shot by a man with a rifle while they walk outside a courthouse (in reality the lawyer who was shot alongside of Flynt was local attorney Gene Reeves Jr. rather than Isaacman). Serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin claims to have been the man who shot Flynt and Reeves, the man on whom Isaacman is based in this portion of the film. Franklin claims to have targeted Flynt because Hustler published photos of interracial sex acts, but whether all or any of his story is true is unclear. Isaacman recovers, but Flynt is paralyzed from the waist down. Wishing he was dead, Flynt renounces God. Because of the pain, he moves to Beverly Hills and spirals down into severe depression and drug use. During this time, Althea begins to dabble in Flynt's pain medications, eventually becoming hooked on painkillers and morphine.
Flynt undergoes surgery to deaden several nerves, and as a result of it, feels rejuvenated. He returns to an active role with the publication. In Flynt's absence, Althea and Jimmy run Hustler, taking away any Christian influence in its content. Flynt is soon in court again, however, and is told to provide his source regarding a video tape of a drug deal. During his ever-increasing courtroom antics, Flynt fires Isaacman on the spot, then throws an orange at the judge, all the while refusing to name his source. Flynt is sent to a psychiatric ward, where he sinks into depression again.
Before going to the psychiatric ward, Flynt publishes a satirical parody ad where famous evangelical minister Jerry Falwell (Richard Paul) "speaks about his first time," and tells of a sexual encounter with his mother. Falwell sues for libel and inflicting emotional distress. Flynt countersues for copyright infringement (because Falwell copied his ad). Everything ends up in court, attracting the attention of the media. The jury's decision is a mixed one, as Flynt is found guilty of inflicting emotional distress, but not libel.
By 1983, Althea has contracted HIV, which proceeds to full-blown AIDS. Flynt finds her dead in the bathtub, having drowned (possibly as the result of an overdose, though this is unclear). With his true love gone, Flynt presses Isaacman to appeal the Falwell decision to the Supreme Court of the United States. Isaacman refuses, saying Flynt's courtroom antics humiliate 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 a case the media nickname "God versus the Devil" (actually Hustler Magazine v. Falwell in 1988). While Flynt is uncharacteristically quiet in the courtroom, Isaacman argues the case and wins, with the court overturning the original verdict in a unanimous decision. The film culminates with Flynt's victory; after the trial is over, Flynt is shown wistfully watching old tapes of a healthy Althea.
Reception
Critical reception
Based on 53 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an overall approval rating from critics of 87%, with an average score of 7.7/10.[1]
