The People vs. Larry Flynt

I went into this one fully expecting to like the heck out of it, and I wasn't disappointed. No one had to convince me the message was a valid one, but I still thought I'd drop a line to say that I thought it was a very well done movie. It shows how a right that is supposedly near and dear to us all is often skewed in favor of mollycoddling lots of hypocrites who has the ridiculous audacity to think they have the right and the obligation to tell the rest of the world what to think of as moral or immoral. I loved the scene where Woody Harrelson, who does an absolutely bang-up job, gives a speech about how explicit depictions of death, murder, and war are considered appropriate while sex is considered filthy. "Sex or war" indeed. The more of Harrelson I see, the more my respect for his work grows. I must also mention Courtney Love, who is terrific as Althea. Great movie, I thought. Most of the people who don't like it are probably also the very ones it portrays as being the "bad guys"-the religious right, of course. Larry Flynt may not be admirable in the type of lifestyle he and Althea lived, and his magazine is, to my mind, entirely repugnant. But if Larry and Althea truly had the sort of relationship portrayed they loved each other beyond all reason, and what he did makes him a great patriot. How many people would do what he did in defense of such an idealistic belief? Not all people who do great things for great reasons are great people.

Woody does here what he always does...he steals the show.

The story the movie tells is a good one and it does a great job of creating debate about free speech.

However this movie lives and dies on the performance of Woody.

One of the most underrated actors off all time :)

"The People vs. Larry Flynt" is already 8 years old, and the subject it talks about is even older, but it still hasn't lost anything of it's relevance. This isn't a movie about Larry Flynt, the porn king. It's more a movie about the right to say what you want to say, without having to think of every person's opinion first.

You may not like the man or what he stands for, but at least he has the guts to stand up for what he believes in. He defends his right to speak freely and doesn't mind kicking against the shins of the ultra conservative Christians. In a way today's America needs more people like him instead of acting like a bunch of sheep being brought to the slaughterhouse by their government...

The acting in the movie is very good, but especially Woody Harrelson as Larry Flynt and Edward Norton as his lawyer were excellent. Courtney Love isn't really an actress, but still did a good job (not that hard to do when you play a role that you are quite familiar with in your own life.)

All in all this is a very enjoyable movie that will be loved by some and hated by many. Personally I liked it and I give it a 7.5/10

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

As Larry Flynt is hardly the usual type of person you think of when you think of the word "hero," it's fitting that this biopic opts not for the standard approach, but to make an offbeat comedy(as writers Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski did in their screenplay for ED WOOD and the upcoming MAN ON THE MOON, about controversial comedian Andy Kaufman). You may not like him(and one of two faults I had with this film was I think the filmmakers lionized him a little too much), but certainly any society which calls itself free needs to make room for him. Harrelson does a good job in the title role, but the real force for me came from Courtney Love, in an astonishing performance as Flynt's wife, and Edward Norton, one of the best new talents, as Flynt's reluctant lawyer.

Besides that it does lionize Flynt a little too much, there is one problem I had, though. If you believe the film, all of Flynt's opposition came from right-wing blowhards like Charles Keating and Jerry Falwell. Certainly, they did have the most publicized tussles with him. But to ignore the problems he had with feminists makes it rather limited. I don't agree with Gloria Steinhem's contention that the film ignores his depraved side, but I think the film would have been more interesting if it had addressed the opposition he had from both the left and the right. Still, this is a terrific and important film to remind us what freedom really is.