Review – The People vs. Larry Flynt

Woody Harrelson heads up a celebrity-and-cameo-studded cast (including porn king Flynt himself as the first judge to throw him behind bars for peddling smut) in this drama about the First Amendment battles waged in the name of keeping the world safe for Hustler magazine. The Hollywoodization of Flynt’s life tends to over-glamorize the toad more than a little, and to be honest I think the main point of the movie – that censorship is bad no matter how loathsome the victim might be – is lost when the anti-hero becomes too sympathetic. That notwithstanding, this is an oddly encouraging movie, especially during the scenes featuring Ed Norton as Flynt’s long-suffering lawyer. Even Courtney Love works well in her semi-cross-over role as his junkie wife. Worth seeing