As filmgoers, at times we are like the proverbial slack-jawed spectators, motoring past the scene of a gruesome accident.
It is in this fashion that Milos Forman, a great filmmaker with little output to his credit, draws one into the life of pornographer and publishing titan Larry Flynt, a man whom most would consider unworthy of a well-crafted, studio-produced biographical picture.
Forman brilliantly parlays a schematized slice of Flynt's story into both a riveting examination of the contested nature of "fundamental" rights, and an account of how a volatile mix of wealth and dynamism of character makes it possible to feed magnificently off of the system, while simultaneously battling against it.
"The People vs. Larry Flynt" opens in rural Kentucky in the early '50s, where we find Flynt seized by the entrepreneurial spirit at an early age, selling potent moonshine to backwoods dwellers.
The first minutes of the film sketch the early years of Flynt's career, showing his ownership of an unprofitable string of strip clubs, his first mild success with a pornographic promotional newsletter, and the initial controversy engendered by the publication of Hustler.
The bulk of Forman's film details Flynt's often outrageous legal battles with authorities and his unconventional relationship with a stripper named Althea Leasure, played in a grand manner by Courtney Love.
Flynt is portrayed by Woody Harrelson, who does a remarkable job of humanizing Larry Flynt. Certainly we see the bravado and infantile antics that landed Flynt in newspaper headlines in the '80s.
But we also see Flynt as a shrewd business executive, a man capable of love, and a man who, while interested in protecting his investments, may have glimpsed a higher principle.
The film must be given considerable credit for several reasons. First, it is a very entertaining film. This is largely due to the three standout lead performances. Harrelson captures Flynt's bitterness as well as he conveys his charm, leaving the ghost of "Cheers'" Woody Boyd far, far behind him. There is much to relish, particularly his unfettered courtroom behavior. Love does an uncompromising job as Althea. She allows herself to fully plumb the depths of this character. Edward Norton is also terrific as Flynt's fast-talking attorney Alan Isaacman.
Forman must also be recognized for making "The People vs. Larry Flynt" worthwhile. He shows that he still has an intimate feel for characters that are deliciously off-kilter (remember McMurphy in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and Mozart in "Amadeus"). Forman also has a keen sense of visual rhythm, creating a film that jitters with fascinating images of sleaze, opportunism and triumph.
Of course, one may ask, "What need is there for this film? What purpose does it serve to magnify the life and struggles of Larry Flynt?"
These are valid questions and to answer them as Forman would, you need to buy into his thesis that the censorship that accompanies totalitarianism travels down a slippery slope from pornography to works that are deemed "inappropriate" only by those in control.
Much has been made of the omissions and distortions of "The People vs. Larry Flynt," and perhaps they should be addressed. Any biographer, especially one working on film, is entitled to recreate a life bearing in mind the constraints of the medium.
Screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (who collaborated previously on "Ed Wood") don't give us any hint in the film that Flynt's marriage to Leasure was his fourth and that he has remarried since her AIDS-related death. We don't learn that he has five children, one of whom has recently accused Flynt of years of sexual and physical abuse.
"The People vs. Larry Flynt" does not give the audience an appropriate sense of Hustler's contents, instead the film plays up the magazine as at worst outlandish and in poor taste. Those battling Hustler (Charles Keating, Jerry Falwell) are portrayed as prudish, hypocritical stick figures. While neither of those gentlemen are counted among my personal heroes, Larry Flynt isn't either.
Courtney Love and Woody Harrelson look at a copy of Playboy in "The People vs. Larry Flynt."
The real Larry Flynt appears in "Flynt" as the judge in the publisher's first obscenity case.