THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT (1996)

 

Directed by: Milos Forman

Starring: Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love, Edward Norton, Brett Harrelson, Donna Hanover, James Cromwell, Crispin Glover, Vincent Schiavelli, Mile Chapin, James Carville, Richard Paul, Burt Neuborne, Jan Triska, Nancy Lea Owen, John Fergus Ryan, Ruby Wilson, Norm Macdonald, Aurelia Thierree, D'Amy Bailey, Cody Block, Ryan Post, Kacky Walton, John Ryan, Larry Flynt

130 minutes

(R - strong language, adult themes, strong sexual content, some violence, graphic nudity, drug use)

PLOT:

It's the 1970s. Larry Flynt owns and operates the Hustler chain of strip clubs in Cincinnati. Wanting a broader audience to promote his form of entertainment - what he unabashedly describes as smut pedaling - he starts to publish a Hustler "newsletter" which eventually morphs into Hustler magazine. The difference between Hustler and other girlie magazines is that Hustler contains little text in the form of articles and shows both sex and female genitalia. Despite the difficult beginnings due largely to retailers not wanting to be charged with distribution of lewd materials, Hustler magazine becomes a success and makes Larry rich. Publishing the magazine also brings Larry both detractors and troubles with the law, the magazine which some believe actually do break laws in what is deemed decent. Through his many trials and tribulations, Larry has some surprising bedfellows which do affect thoughts of what he is doing. He also has a core group of his entourage, including his younger brother Jimmy Flynt, his lawyer Alan L. Isaacman, and who would become his wife Althea Flynt née Leasure, who met Larry when she started working for him as a stripper at one of his clubs. The nature of Larry and Althea's relationship fundamentally changes starting with an incident outside a Georgia courthouse in 1978 which affects Larry's health. Larry's legal battles, which always have him challenging the conventions of legal decorum (much as the magazine challenges traditional moral decorum), change from him defending his form of entertainment to defending the notion of free speech in America.

TRAILER: