Watching The People vs. Larry Flynt on Arrow Video’s new 4K disc was bittersweet because I couldn’t stop thinking about how there’s no way any Hollywood studio would be so bold as to make a lavish, big-budget biopic about such a controversial character nowadays. Larry Flynt was a lot of things, and while his work as the guy who started Hustler Magazine would no doubt make him so controversial that Hollywood wouldn’t touch him with a ten-foot pole, things were different thirty years ago. Filmmakers at the time could see past things like that and appreciate that he was also a fearless crusader for free speech. There is a moment in the film where Edward Norton’s character, lawyer Alan Isaacman, lectures a jury on what happens to a culture when we limit that freedom, and it can’t help but cast our own contemporary culture in a harsh light. All of this makes The People vs. Larry Flynt a movie that is well worth revisiting.
It also helps that it’s extremely entertaining. Woody Harrelson has the role of a lifetime as the profane, seedy, but also sharp-minded (and sharp-tongued) Flynt, with the film really showcasing him at his best. This was in the middle of a great run for Harrelson, with him daringly taking on several parts in the nineties that were controversial. His role in Natural Born Killers actually cost him the lead in A Time to Kill (which, coincidentally, went to his future BFF Matthew McConaughey) after John Grisham vetoed his casting. He ended up nabbing a Best Actor nomination for The People vs. Larry Flynt, only to lose to Geoffrey Rush for Shine.
Another important piece of casting is Courtney Love, who plays Flynt’s wife, Althea. Her role was ultra-controversial at the time, as she was known best for fronting the band Hole and being the wife of the late Kurt Cobain. It launched her into a pretty solid second career as an actress, and she’s terrific, as is Edward Norton in an early role. The film is brilliantly written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, who would reteam with director Miloš Forman a few years later for the equally good Man on the Moon. A word on Forman: while largely unknown now by contemporary audiences, his body of work is well worth re-examining, with Flynt just one of many excellent movies he made during his heyday, including Amadeus. He passed away in 2018, but hopefully more of his movies make their way to 4K.
The Arrow disc is loaded with extras, including archival commentary by Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love, and Edward Norton. Harrelson actually turns up in a few new special features as well, sitting for a new extended interview about the film, as do Alexander and Karaszewski.
If you’re a fan of The People vs. Larry Flynt, or maybe haven’t seen it, the Arrow Video disc is worth a buy. It’s a dazzling presentation of one of the best unheralded films of the nineties and a nice addition to the label’s growing catalogue, with Arrow truly becoming the Criterion of more mainstream fare.
The comment section exists to allow readers to discuss the article constructively and respectfully, focused on the topic at hand.
What’s Not Allowed