The People vs. Larry Flynt

In 1952, 10-year-old Larry Flynt is selling moonshine in Kentucky. Twenty years later, Flynt and his younger brother, Jimmy, run the Hustler Go-Go, a struggling strip club in Cincinnati. In a bid to improve his business, Flynt decides to publish a newsletter for the club featuring nude photos of his strippers, which he names Hustler. The newsletter soon becomes a full-fledged magazine, but sales are weak. After Hustler publishes photos of former first lady Jackie Kennedy Onassis sunbathing nude in 1972, it becomes a national sensation, and Larry decides to focus on it full-time.

Flynt becomes smitten with Althea Leasure, who he allows to work as a stripper despite her being underage. With his success comes enemies – as he finds himself a hated figure of anti-pornography activists. He argues with the activists, declaring that "murder is illegal, but if you take a picture of it, you may get your name in a magazine or maybe win a Pulitzer Prize. However, sex is legal, but if you take a picture of that act, you can go to jail." He becomes involved in several prominent court cases, and befriends his young and idealistic lawyer, Alan Isaacman.

In 1975, Flynt is convicted on pornography charges, but the decision is overturned on appeal; he is released from jail soon afterwards. Ruth Carter Stapleton, a Christian activist and sister of President Jimmy Carter, seeks out Flynt and urges him to give his life to Jesus; this results in Flynt attempting to turn his life around and even push for Hustler to become a more tasteful publication in line with his competitors. However, Althea, who blames molestation by nuns during her years in Catholic school for her problems in life, grows to resent him.

In 1978, during another trial in Georgia, Flynt and Isaacman are both shot by a man with a rifle while they walk outside a courthouse. Isaacman recovers, but Flynt is paralyzed from the waist down and uses a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Broken by the experience, Flynt renounces his faith, turns over control of Hustler to Jimmy and Althea, and moves to Beverly Hills, where he quickly spirals into drug addiction to combat his depression and crippling pain. In 1983, Flynt undergoes surgery to deaden several nerves in his back damaged by the bullet wounds, and as a result, feels rejuvenated. He soon returns to an active role with the publication.

Flynt is soon in court again for leaking videos relating to the John DeLorean entrapment case, and during his courtroom antics, he fires Isaacman, then throws an orange at the judge. He later wears an American flag as an adult diaper along with an Army helmet, and wears T-shirts with provocative messages such as "I Wish I Was Black" and "Fuck This Court." After spitting water at the judge, Flynt is committed to a psychiatric ward, where he sinks into depression again. Flynt publishes a satirical parody ad in which Jerry Falwell tells of a drunken sexual encounter with his mother. Falwell sues for libel and emotional distress. Flynt countersues for copyright infringement, because Falwell copied his ad and used it to raise funds for his legal bills. The case goes to trial in December 1984, but the decision is mixed, as Flynt is found liable for inflicting emotional distress but not libel and is forced to pay damages to Falwell.

Althea, now a morphine addict, visits Flynt and reveals her HIV diagnosis; disgusted to learn that the Hustler staff won't even shake her hand, Flynt arranges a company meeting via phone call and fires everyone. Althea comes to live with him, but later drowns in the bathtub after passing out. Flynt presses Isaacman to appeal the Falwell decision to the Supreme Court of the United States. Isaacman refuses, saying Flynt's courtroom antics humiliated him. Flynt pleads with him, saying that he "wants to be remembered for something meaningful". Isaacman finally agrees to represent him in front of the Supreme Court, in the case Hustler Magazine v. Falwell in December 1987. With Flynt sitting silently in the courtroom, the court overturns the original verdict in a unanimous decision. After the trial, Flynt is shown to be alone in his bedroom watching old videotapes of a happy, healthy Althea and himself before tragedy struck them both.

Both Bill Murray and Tom Hanks were considered for the role of Flynt.^[5][6] Flynt's brother, Jimmy, is played by Brett Harrelson, the real-life brother of Woody Harrelson. William J. Morrissey Jr., a Cincinnati court judge who sentenced Flynt in 1977, is played in the film by Larry Flynt himself.^{[citation needed]}

The film opened on December 25, 1996, in a limited release, in 16 theatres, where it was a hit, before expanding to wide release, 1,233 theatres, on January 10, 1997.^[7] The film eventually grossed $20,300,385 in the United States and Canada.^[8] Internationally it did better grossing $23 million, for a worldwide total of $43 million against a $35 million budget.^[3][2]

Based on 58 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an overall approval rating of 88%, with an average score of 7.6/10. The site's consensus states, "The People vs. Larry Flynt pays entertaining tribute to an irascible iconoclast with a well-constructed biopic that openly acknowledges his troublesome flaws."^[9] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 79 out of 100 based on reviews from 24 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[10]

Feminist Gloria Steinem criticised the sanitized portrayal of Flynt, stating "What's left out [of the film] are the magazine's images of women being beaten, tortured, and raped; women subject to degradations from bestiality to sexual slavery."^[11]

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

• 2008: AFI's 10 Top 10:
  • Courtroom Drama Film – Nominated^[32]

• Supreme Court of the United States in fiction

 

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• The People vs. Larry Flynt at IMDb
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• The People vs. Larry Flynt at Box Office Mojo
• The People vs. Larry Flynt at Rotten Tomatoes
• The People vs. Larry Flynt at Metacritic