The People Vs. Larry Flynt

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating legal battle
Review: This movie is a fascinating account of Larry Flynt's battle to protect his right to free speech even when that speech was considered raunchy and obscene by many. He took the battle all the way to the Supreme Court. The story is very captivating and makes for a very good movie.

At times, though, it is difficult to follow just what motivated Larry Flynt. Was he just trying to make a buck with his magazine? Was he a crusader for constitutional rights? or a crusader against the Moral Majority? Was he some sort of bizarre spiritual leader himself? Was he simply a man in an unorthodox but very committed love affair with his life?

Larry Flynt was and is all of those things, and it makes for a compelling story, and yet it might have made for an even better movie if these different aspects of Larry Flynt's life could have been woven together better to present a more coherent picture of the complete man.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I love this film. Not least because the acting is intensely brilliant. Love is good but out of her depth in some scenes (I'm a Hole fan and to be completely honest, I didn't think she was doing that much acting anyway), Harrelson is scarily credible and moving as Larry - Althea's death scene is heartbreaking - and Ed Norton is fantastic, as always, as Larry's lawyer (I love this man and his performance is nicely understated so as not to completely dominate the screen, to weight attention on the leads). I liked the fact that although dealing with a porn king, the film was never gratuitous and that the relationship between Larry and Althea (and Alan) is always so believable. Most of all I loved its handling of the censorship issues (something, we in Britain, don't seem to have grasped yet). Okay, yes, its very patriotic but it makes up for it with some the best dialogue, harrowing scenes, direction and acting ever commited to film. Go buy now.

Rating:
Summary: A must-see movie for drama fans!!
Review: I saw it the first time when it showed on TV. I can say that it moved me a lot. Someone who try to be remembered and try to make something meaningful is really worth to support!

Rating:
Summary: ITS A MOVIE WHICH DESERVES MORE THAN 5 STARS
Review: I really enjoyed the movie its was hilarious at the same time it held my interest all the way to the end there is a lot to learn from it. How people use their own interpretation for the bill of rights is the main highlight of the movie.It is a movie i could watch over and over again. Watching this movie will not make anyone think like a pervert as some people might suggest.The most hilarious line in the movie according to me is when Courtney Love tells Woody Harrelson that he is not the only one in the club to have had every girl in the club.WATCH IT ITS EXCELLENT.

Rating:
Summary: LARRY FLYNT: DEMOCRAT
Review: When Ronald Reagan became the President, a shift to conservatism occurred in Hollywood and the media. Hustler founder Larry Flynt flirted with Christianity, but it did not take. When his editors suggested that the Reagan mood should portend more "family friendly" fare, Flynt fired that messenger and went from sick and disgusting to really hardcore porn (which is better than sick and disgusting). He aligned himself against the Republicans, who were asking 7-11s to keep their porn mags away from minors (a move since described by liberals as tantamount to Stalinist censorship). In 1998, Flynt became the mouthpiece of the Democrat party, a de facto Clinton spokesman and unofficial public relations firm for the DNC. In 2003 he decided to run for Governor of California as a Democrat. While his intentions may be to benefit the Democrats, he could not have harmed them more. Republicans need say nothing about this fact. It exists for what it is, on it face. Republicans just smile and say, "Hey, you Democrats, you can have Larry Flynt." They have him and he has them. A mariage made in...?

STEVEN TRAVERS
AUTHOR OF "BARRY BONDS: BASEBALL'S SUPERMAN"
[e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: informitable and powerful
Review: the people verses larry flynt was a moving and powerful movie based on a true sory in so many differnt ways. free speech the main storyline and the there is with enough money minipulation in the court happens and can even turn into a circus it shows if little poeple like us had all the money our courthouse would be a totaly different place today. larry flynt is a decent man who wasent given a fair shot we just called him a prevert insted. with all the pain he has indured realy who cares about nudie pictures.

Rating:
Summary: An essentially effective film.
Review: "The People vs. Larry Flynt" is an essentially effective film that promotes freedom of speech. Wonderful performances by Woody Harrelson (his best role since "Natural Born Killers"), Courtney Love and Edward Norton. The film was directed by famous director Milos Forman ("One Flew Over The Cockoo's Nest", "Amadeus", "Man On The Moon") and produced by another great brilliant director, Oliver Stone.

I recommend this film to everyone, no matter how smart or stupid, black or white, young or old. Does anyone have a problem with that? Huh?
I didn't think so. Yes, if I'll ever have a child old enough to understand a seriously funny and moving film like this one I would rather show my child this film than showing him or her a brutally violent PG-13 rated film, like "Lord Of The Rings". What is worse? Sexuality or violence?

Rating:
Summary: Controversy At Its Finest
Review: "The People Vs. Larry Flint" is one of the most controversial releases of 1996, starring Woody Harrelson, Edward Norton, and Courtney Love. It earned two Oscar nominations and two Golden Globe wins. This real-life film wonderfully desplicts Larry Flint's struggle to publish "Hustler", a sexually explicit magazine. He risks his freedom to prove that the bans violate the First Amendment on the US Bill of Rights, which is freedom of speech. Through every step, he causes tremendous controversy throughout the country. Some love him, some hate him. Either way, nobody can get enough of him. The plot is brilliant. The daring material expressed deserves tremendous respect for doing what few writers have dared. The climatic story keeps audiences interested in every scene, always wondering what Flint will say or do next. The unexpected events keep the energy intact. His eccentric behavior adds a more interesting flavor to the film.

Woody Harrelson and Courtney Love prove that they were made for their roles. Harrelson's Oscar nominated performance as Larry Flint is the best in his career. Nobody else could have played Flint better. Love makes a triumphant film debut in her Golden Globe nominated role as Athena, Flint's wife. Her erratic behavior is wonderfully displayed through every scene. Athena's life struggles are beautifully expressed. Edward Norton's role as Flint's lawyer is beautifully performed. All other performers also acted their roles wonderfully.

"The People Vs. Larry Flint" is a great film for those looking for something risque. This is sure to please audiences of all kinds.

Rating:
Summary: Ha, this film just rules!
Review: Larry Flynt is a sleaze, and he's not afraid to exlpoit that fact. The People Vs. Larry Flynt doesn't make him look like a saint, as some have said. Milos Forman is a great director, and he takes this material and turns it into a very compelling look at a man, (who is very sleazy, mind you), that cared immensely about the First Amendment and turned the judicial system upside down. (And made and spent lots of money!) Like it or not, Flynt is a crusader for free speech in the annals of American history. Great film, and FINALLY a great DVD. However, where's the Forman commentary?

Rating:
Summary: Superb biography with an edge to it
Review: Telling the story of Larry Flynt, the unsympathetic character behind Hustler magazine, was always going to be a hard job. However, Foreman's movie manages to pull it off thanks to great jobs from all round. It starts with a brief clip of Flynt's early life as a boy, peddling booze to redneck farmers and throwing a jug at his father, who's drunk all his wares. Fastforward to his strip joints where he meets feisty, unpredictable but undeniably sexy Althea (Love). Before long they've set up Hustler magazine and not long after that they find themselves in a series of court cases concerning the decency of Flynt's publication. The story really switches gears though when Flynt is gunned down by a sniper's bullet, leading to his Althea's drug addiction and Flynt's increasing eccentricity.

The fact that not only is the direction good, but the acting and script are also brilliant. Woody Harrellson gives the best performance of his career as Flynt, evoking sympathy in a character that's bravely rarely played for the sympathy vote. Courtney Love was born to play the role of grungy white trash glamourous drug addict Althea and pulls it off so convincing that it's surprising that she was nominated for an Oscar as well as a Golden Globe. Edward Norton turns in another great performance in the supporting role of Flynt's lawyer and anyone who's seen his performances in American History X or Primal Fear won't need to hear any more convincing about his abilities as an actor.

The best part of the story is the pathetic nature that it draws out in its protagonists. Love in particular enters her character so much that when she wraps her arms around her husband after just using his drugs it's close to heartbreaking. Whilst the argument for Flynt as a liberator of free speech may seem a bit over the top (despite some very funny scenes in the courtroom), the film gently suggests the intense melancholy behind the larger than life character. The last scene especially evokes this superbly, with Larry watching videos of his wife telling him that he'll grow old and ugly as she's playfully dancing naked for him. As the camera shows us Larry's face we know that he realises this to be true as he's sat alone in his luxurious bedroom despite his greatest victory against the Supreme Court.