People vs. Larry Flynt

UPC: 014381705355

Studio: Image

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Nudity, Adult Situations, Strong Sexual Content, Not For Children, Profanity, Substance Abuse]

Summary: "If the First Amendment will protect a scumbag like me, then it'll protect all of you -- 'cause I'm the worst," declares Hustler Magazine publisher Larry Flynt (as played by Woody Harrelson) in the midst of one of his many court cases. Milos Forman's film follows Flynt from his childhood in Kentucky, where he made extra money for his dirt-poor family by selling the moonshine his father brewed, into adulthood as he manages a strip club in Cincinnati. While the club does middling business, the experience changes Flynt's life in two ways: he meets Althea (Courtney Love), an exotic dancer who becomes the love of his life, and he gets the bright idea of starting a magazine to promote the club. Marketed as a crasser, less pretentious alternative to Playboy or Penthouse, Hustler becomes a huge success after Flynt runs a photo series of Jacqueline Onassis sunbathing nude. However, while plenty of people are buying Hustler, there are also plenty of people who don't care for it, including Charles Keating (James Cromwell), leader of a watchdog group called Citizens For Decent Literature. Keating spearheads the first of many legal attacks on the magazine, one of which reaches the Supreme Court as Alan Isaacman (Edward Norton), Flynt's lawyer, debates the finer legal points of bad taste with the justices of the highest court in the land. Meanwhile, Flynt makes a fortune, loses the use of his legs after an attack by a sniper, embraces and than abandons Christianity, and eventually loses Althea, who succumbs to AIDS after a long addiction to drugs. Woody Harrelson's brother Brett Harrelson is well cast as Larry Flynt's brother Jimmy; Larry Flynt appears briefly as a judge who hands down a judgment against Larry Flynt. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Category: Comedy Drama

Awards: Best Director – null Best Screenplay – null Best Screenplay – null Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Actor – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Director – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Golden Bear – Berlin International Film Festival Best Picture – National Board of Review Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – National Board of Review Most Promising Actor – Chicago Film Critics Association Most Promising Actress – Chicago Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actor (Runner-up) – National Society of Film Critics Best Actor – Screen Actors Guild Best Supporting Actress – New York Film Critics Circle Best Supporting Actor – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Screenplay – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Supporting Actor – National Board of Review Best Screenplay – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Director – Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Features: Cast Commentary Featuring Wood Harrelson, Courtney Love & Edward Norton

Writer's Commentary: Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski

Deleted Scenes With Optional Filmmaker's Commentary

People vs. Larry Flynt

Format: Blu-ray

Release Date: 04/05/2011

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Cinemascope

Audio: DHMA null

Runtime: 129 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: English,Spanish

Matthew Doberman

Exceptional performances, a sharp script, and sympathetic direction make Milos Forman's The People Vs. Larry Flynt a genuinely engaging, entertaining and unique rags-to-riches story. Woody Harrelson's Flynt is an endearing, irascible troublemaker and unlikely patriot, not the immoral miscreant and lawbreaker his detractors color him to be. Building upon the fine reputation he founded earlier that year in Primal Fear, Edward Norton is exceptional as Flynt's put-upon lawyer; and Courtney Love's natural, unaffected turn as Flynt's dedicated girlfriend adds a necessary dimension to the film. Larry Flynt is by and large a sympathetic, subjective portrayal of the publisher, and as such, Forman and screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski choose to focus on issues of morality and free-speech; as expected, the film drew some criticism for its omission of Flynt's more unsavory traits. ~ Matthew Doberman, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Brett Harrelson  Actor 
Richard Paul  Actor 
James Carville  Actor 
Burt Neuborne  Actor 
Scott Alexander  Screenwriter 
Milos Forman  Director 
Michael Hausman  Producer 
Larry Karaszewski  Screenwriter 
Thomas Newman  Composer (Music Score) 
Oliver Stone  Producer 
Janet Yang  Producer 
Woody Harrelson  Actor 
Courtney Love  Actor 
Edward Norton  Actor 
James Cromwell  Actor 
Crispin Glover  Actor 
Donna Hanover  Actor 

Country: USA