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Movies / On DVD / The People Vs. Larry Flynt
The People Vs. Larry Flynt

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The People Vs. Larry Flynt (1996)

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Reviews Counted:53

Fresh:46

Rotten:7

Average Rating:7.7/10

Runtime: 2 hrs 10 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: In THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT, Milos Forman expertly directs the viewer's sympathy toward Larry Flynt (Woody Harrelson in a superb performance): smut peddler, misogynist, and Editor in Chief of the... In THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT, Milos Forman expertly directs the viewer's sympathy toward Larry Flynt (Woody Harrelson in a superb performance): smut peddler, misogynist, and Editor in Chief of the infamous Hustler magazine. Born in the back woods of Appalachia, the young Flynt--in an opening scene that immediately grabs and amuses--is seen selling moonshine as a child to alcoholic hermits. Flash forward to the 1960s, and he's running a go-go club where he meets the wild (and strangely loveable) Althea Leasure (Courtney Love) who becomes his soul mate and wife. Life is not as sweet as it first seems for the porn king who finds a massive readership for his magazine (the first to show crotch shots). He soon finds himself in the middle of several Supreme Court law suits, and also as an assassin's target. While Flynt's various outrageous meetings with self-righteous Reverend Jerry Falwell (Richard Paul) and devout Christian Ruth Carter Stapleton (President Jimmy Carter's sister, played by Rudolph Giuliani's ex-wife Donna Hanover) are hilarious and smartly pointed, it is perhaps the touching, and ultimately tragic, love story between him and Althea that make him very human, and very interesting to watch. [More]

Starring: Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love, Edward Norton, Miles Chapin

Starring: Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love, Edward Norton, Miles Chapin, Vincent Schiavelli, Donna Hanover, Crispin Glover, James Cromwell, Richard Paul, Brett Harrelson, James Carville

Director: Milos Forman

Director: Milos Forman
Screenwriter: Larry Karaszewski, Scott Alexander
Producer: Oliver Stone, Janet Yang, Michael Hausman
Composer: Thomas Newman

[See More Credits]

Reviews for The People Vs. Larry Flynt

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
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The exploitative misogyny of Flynt's output is never examined, the prurient hypocrisy and intolerance of his persecutors seriously overplayed, plus Larry and Althea's odd romance lacks bittersweet conviction.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

While Harrelson and Love deliver convincing performances, in the end this is a distended account of a revolting couple which dodges the issue.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
01/01/00
Kim Newman
Kim Newman
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
10/18/08
Washington Post

An exultant comedy of American repression and revolt.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
06/30/08
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly

A brave, spectacularly entertaining -- and unexpectedly stirring -- account of Flynt's life that asks us to regard the publisher of Hustler magazine as an invaluable champion of our First Amendment freedoms.

Full Review Source: Newsweek | comment Comment
06/30/08
David Ansen
David Ansen
Newsweek

Long after you've grown tired of his escapades, the scenes in which he and Althea support one another against the slings an arrows of outrageous fortune are touching and, ultimately, genuinely tragic.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
06/30/08
TV Guide's Movie Guide

One of the truly bizarre careers in recent American cultural life provides the source of tart and tasty amusement in The People vs. Larry Flynt.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
06/30/08
Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Woody Harrelson plays Flynt with energy, and Courtney Love does at least as well as his wife.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
06/30/08
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader

We're really celebrating Hollywood's freedom to create biographies of anyone, no matter how high or low on the social ladder, and still come up with the same banal characteristics, messages and conclusions.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
06/30/08
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post

The movie is a lot of fun for long stretches.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
05/26/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

I sincerely hope The People Versus Larry Flynt goes all the way and wins the Academy Award.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Chris Gore
Chris Gore
Film Threat

Funny, fascinating, and maybe just a little unsettling.

Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com | comment Comment
09/15/05
Michael Dequina
Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com

Great.

Full Review Source: sbs.is | comment Comment
07/08/05
Stefan Birgir Stefansson
Stefan Birgir Stefansson
sbs.is

The screenplay, by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, is rich in detail and dialogue.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
04/09/05
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

Proof that you can find patriotism in the most unlikely of places.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
07/25/04
Steve Davis
Steve Davis
Austin Chronicle

The latest movie from the great director Milos Forman is a sensational, irreverent docudrama. And, as they say in the porno trade, it's adult entertainment.

Full Review Source: Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) | comment Comment
07/01/04
Judith Egerton
Judith Egerton
Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)

I dug it.

Full Review Source: Blunt Review | comment Comment
05/30/03
Emily Blunt
Emily Blunt
Blunt Review

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment 3 Comments
05/20/03
Leonard Schwarz
Leonard Schwarz
Palo Alto Weekly

Whitewashing the truth is a forgivable sin in the world of biopics, but to demean ideologies by remaining "balanced" is cowardly.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
05/16/03
Eric Henderson
Eric Henderson
Slant Magazine

Very entertaining.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
05/05/03
Dragan Antulov
Dragan Antulov
rec.arts.movies.reviews
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
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