While Milos Forman's film plays a bit fast and loose with some of the details of Larry Flynt's life (he was not a child moonshine capitalist as the movie depicts, his first three wives are conveniently omitted from the story, and his infamous magazine Hustler comes across as a girlie mag with a political/satirical conscience rather than the misogynist tripe it really is), this sanitized biography still works. The reason is simple: it combines sex, money, and religion--the holy American triumvirate--in the story of a man (played by Woody Harrelson) who fought the law (and the law lost) while suffering in a personal hell of his own and others making. Paralysed from the waist down by a sniper while fighting for his right to publish porn, Flynt and his wife Althea (Courtney Love) spiraled down into paranoia-tinged drug dependencies. But when Flynt took on the Rev. Jerry Falwell (who sued over an ad parody in Hustler), the case went all the way to the Supreme Court, where it was eloquently argued by Alan Isaacson (another inspired performance by Edward Norton). Less a tale of free speech triumphant and more a thoroughly twisted story of American entrepreneurial spirit, this is highly recommended. (R. Pitman)[DVD Review-- June 17, 2003--Columbia TriStar Home Video, 129 min., R, $24.95--Boasting a sharp, clean transfer, and solid Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, Milos Forman's controversial 1996 biopic looks and sounds great. On the extras side, the disc features two commentary tracks: the first by Courtney Love, Woody Harrelson, and Edward Norton--all recorded separately--with Love dominating the airtime with chatty monologue on topics ranging from her problems with drug addiction to her affair with Norton; the second, more business-like, from writers Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski. In addition, the disc serves up a pair of solid short documentaries: the 30-minute "Free Speech or Porn," a "making-of," as well as a look at the controversy surrounding the film (Gloria Steinem publicly trounced it); and the biographical half-hour "Larry Flynt Exposed." Finally, the disc includes a pair (less than two minutes) of deleted scenes, and Frank Rich's New York Times text article "Larry Flynt, Patriot." Bottom line: Kudos to Columbia TriStar for adding some meaty extras to this excellent slice of Americana from one of our most perceptive observers--Czech director Milos Forman.]
The People vs. Larry Flynt
(Columbia TriStar, 130 min., R, avail. June 3) Vol. 12, Issue 3
The People vs. Larry Flynt
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