`The People vs. Larry Flynt' portrays actual story well

---

by Peter Debruge

---

The movie begins with a 10-year-old Larry Flynt and his younger brother Jimmy selling moonshine to earn money. An abrupt scene change jumps decades into the future with the two brothers sitting at the bar of the Hustler Club, their Cincinnati strip joint, debating how to save their dying business. The brothers' eventual solution: print a pictorial flyer to advertise the women performing at the Hustler Clubs.

"The Hustler Newsletter" starts as little more than a racy publicity technique, but it quickly becomes one of America's raunchiest and most controversial magazines. The People vs. Larry Flynt is fascinating in its portrayal of the high school dropout whose unorthodox newsletter redefined the multi-billion-dollar pornography industry and led the way in an unintentional crusade for First Amendment rights.

Early in the movie, Larry Flynt (Woody Harrelson) is drawn to underage bisexual stripper Althea Leasure (Courtney Love), who steals his heart by telling him, "You aren't the only person who has slept with every woman in this club." Perusing an issue of Playboy together, the duo decide that the public doesn't want airbrushed glamour photos and articles in the porno magazines they buy. As an alternative, Flynt's Hustler offers unabashed full female nudity, shocking cartoons and tasteless jokes. Though Hustler's initial results are disastrously bad, the second issue features a controversial and candid nude photo spread of Jacqueline Onassis, propelling the magazine into the public's awareness.

From the moment of the magazine's success, Flynt and his co-workers are faced with numerous lawsuits and the threat of censorship. In case after case, Flynt and his lawyer Alan Isaacman (Edward Norton) face judges and juries, trying to prove that obscenity is protected by the First Amendment. As time passes, Flynt and Isaacman use one another to challenge the courts, each trying to be sensational in his own way.

Unfortunately, The People vs. Larry Flynt is the type of movie that will have problems finding the appropriate audience. The movie is too exploitative to be taken as a serious drama about American freedoms, yet it is unlikely to satisfy someone attracted to the scandal and sexuality of its subject. In the end, the film comes across as an irreverent comedy mocking everything from conservatism and the judicial system to sexuality and Flynt himself.

The courtroom scenes are treated as fun, mocking the weaknesses of the American judicial system and movies like A Few Good Men without losing our interest. Unfortunately, the movie isn't concerned with the outcome or aftermath of any of the trials except for the ground-breaking Supreme Court case between Flynt and the Rev. Jerry Falwell, self-appointed head of America's "Moral Majority." The script covers too much material in too little time, making the movie seem somewhat choppy and hard-to-follow in spots.

Behind the controversy that forms the main focus of the movie is an intimate portrait of Larry Flynt as a man faced with realistic personal problems.

The scenes are haunting because we realize that Larry Flynt is neither a monster nor a hero. Crippled by an assassination attempt and dealing with Althea's struggle against AIDS, Flynt shows a tender side that almost contradicts his public image. The movie effectively shows that he is not always the wild character that we see mouthing off to judges and experiencing a shocking, though temporary, Christian conversion.

The performances in the movie are outstanding. Harrelson is perfect as Flynt, fully capturing both. The ribald and sincere sides of his character. Love is equally amazing as the vivacious Althea. Althea is remarkably similar to Love's own media persona, and we are unsure of what she will do in each scene, fully aware that anything can happen.

In an unusual cameo appearance, the real Larry Flynt plays Judge Morrisey, the first judge to preside over one of Flynt's cases. Sitting at the bench, Flynt is overweight and almost unintelligible. Across the courtroom sits Harrelson as the younger Larry Flynt, handsome and defiant. Seeing both the actor and his true character in the same scene, we immediately notice differences. Even so, the movie portrays Flynt as honestly as possible.

Though the movie seems to glamorize Flynt's success, it is impossible to ignore the fact that Flynt is a poorly-educated man from an impoverished background. His unusual vision helped him create an empire and strengthen the very laws that once haunted him.

Of course such a subject is offensive, but the director treats the subject carefully, making the movie a cross between a biographical portrait and a peep show of a wild decade.

This item appeared in the Arts & Entertainment section of the January 24, 1997 issue.

Copyright © 1996 The Rice Thresher. All Rights Reserved.
This document may be distributed electronically, provided that it is distributed in its entirety and includes this notice. However, it cannot be reprinted without the express written permission of:
The Rice Thresher, Rice University, 6100 Main, Houston, TX 77005-1892, USA.