Larry Flynt the Martyr? - Page: 2
The film begins in Kentucky in 1952. Larry Flynt and his brother Jimmy are children selling moonshine to the dirt-poor farmers in their region. Dirt-poor is not a cliché in this case. The two boys are covered in mud, and live in a shack. This scene is obviously a stab at trying to make a comparison to the humble beginnings of the Flynt brothers and the fortunes they would someday have.
Cut to twenty years later in Cincinnati, Ohio to find the Flynt brothers running a strip club. The club does fairly well, but Larry Flynt, the visionary that he is, has set his sights ever higher. He comes up with the idea to start a newsletter advertising the beautiful and scantily dressed women in his club.
Enter Althea. Althea, who is never given a last name, is an underage stripper in Flynt’s club. The two fall in love after she seduces him in the first ten minutes of their acquaintance. Courtney Love (200 CIGARETTES, FEELING MINNESOTA), widow of rock legend Kurt Cobain, was nominated for a Golden Globe for her portrayal of this character. She did not win the award, and was slighted by the Academy without a nomination. Many sang praises for her performance in this movie, but there were far more people writing off her role as typecasting. Regardless, she is very believable as the doomed Althea.
Flynt starts Hustler Publications. A primary example of what would eventually enrage the public is a photograph session around the birth of HUSTLER. An ornately undressed woman is reclined on a bed. The photographer gives her posing instructions. Flynt looks on in wonder. When the photographer asks the girl to close her legs slightly Flynt interrupts. He walks over, grabs the girl’s knees, and spreads her legs for the picture. “You can’t do that,” the photographer insists. “Why not?” Flynt asks. “A girl’s vagina has just as much personality as her face.”
Milos Forman (ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST, MAN ON THE MOON) does an impressive directing job showing the tension and disappointment of HUSTLER’S initial failure. And then Forman brings things up a notch. The infamous nude pictures of Jackie O featured in HUSTLER bring in millions in profit for Flynt and his entourage. The celebration begins.
Although this film deals with many of Flynt’s courtroom problems, it also has a tender side. After an orgy between Flynt, Althea, and three other women, the two lovers are left in a hot tub alone. Here Flynt proposes to Althea. The still shots of their wedding are very effective as a replacement for a documentation of the actual ceremony. Forman gives Flynt a sweet side, but never runs rampant with it.
In 1977 Flynt has his first courtroom rendezvous. He is charged with pandering obscenity in Cincinnati, and engaging in organized crime. He is prosecuted on both charges in the Hamilton County Courthouse despite the efforts of Flynt’s attorney Alan Isaacman; played with quiet elegance by the always-outstanding Edward Norton (PRIMAL FEAR, AMERICAN HISTORY X). He is sentenced to 25 years in jail, and bail is denied. Perhaps the saddest part of this scene is when Isaacman attempts to enter other pornographic magazines as exhibits, and is denied.
Isaacman's entry into Flynt's life is very important. Without him Flynt would have gone on simply being a pervert. But Isaacman pushes depth onto the smut peddler. Isaacman convinces Flynt that he's not selling sex, he's protecting every citizen's right to freedom of speech. From this point on Flynt finds his cause noble.
This is merely the beginning of Larry Flynt’s legal woes. Later in the year, after several Georgia shopkeepers are arrested for selling HUSTLER and others are pulling it off of the shelves out of fear, Flynt is arrested for taking over such a store and selling his magazine openly.
The biggest problem I have with these legal scenes is that they are not specific enough. They showcase Flynt’s exhibitionism and the public’s reason for outrage, but never go into detail about his exact charges.
Outside the Gwinnett County Courthouse in Lawrenceville, Georgia in 1978, an assailant shoots Flynt and Isaacman. Isaacman recovers, yet Flynt is left paralyzed and in immense pain. This begins Flynt’s four-year drug haze. During this time he and Althea become addicted to painkillers, and rarely leave their Los Angeles mansion.
Tired of the pain, Flynt undergoes an operation that relieves him of the pain the bullet left him with. He quits taking drugs cold turkey. Unfortunately for Althea, her addiction and the way she carried on has left her dependent on narcotics, and infected with the HIV virus.
After his recovery Flynt goes back to his magazine; which has become an empire. Flynt approves a parody of a liquor advertisement. The parody states that Jerry Fallwell lost his virginity to his mother in an outhouse. Fallwell proceeds to sue Flynt for libel and intentional infliction of emotional pain, not to mention forty million dollars.
In 1984 Isaacman successfully proves that no libel has been committed. But the infliction of emotional pain is valid, and Flynt is ordered to pay Fallwell $230 thousand dollars.
Althea dies while bathing right after the trial with Fallwell ends. This is not much of a shock to the audience, who has watched her unravel during the last forty-five minutes of the film. Her death inspires Flynt to appeal the verdict that favored Fallwell.
Isaacman, who is understandably fed up by Flynt's antics, refuses. Only after Flynt promises not to interfere with the case, does Isaacman cave. He appeals to the Supreme Court. The case is heard before the Supreme Court in 1987. Norton’s boyish charm shines through here particularly well, as he argues that Flynt’s livelihood is a matter of taste. This scene is far too short. Forman’s directing style is visually superior to most during climatic scenes. The shots range from close-ups of the people in the courtroom, to overhead shots of Isaacman gesturing as he proves his case. Since this is based on a true story, I can’t spoil the ending for you.
The court unanimously votes in Flynt’s favor, and justice has been served. Forman could have effectively ended the film there. Unfortunately, the last we see of Flynt is his sorrowful face as he sits alone in his house and watches an old home movie of Althea stripping.
I have to give credit to Woody Harrelson (NATURAL BORN KILLERS, PALMETTO) for his performance. It’s too bad he seems just as torn between the bitter-sweetness of the film’s love story and the comically inane legal battles as his audience. Though he is almost believable as the tender and loving Larry Flynt, he seems more at ease when he is a scumbag smut-peddler. I found it easier to think of him the former way as well.
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