RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / The People Vs. Larry Flynt
The People Vs. Larry Flynt

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

The People Vs. Larry Flynt (1996)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
87 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:53

Fresh:46

Rotten:7

Average Rating:7.7/10

Runtime: 2 hrs 10 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: In THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT, Milos Forman expertly directs the viewer's sympathy toward Larry Flynt (Woody Harrelson in a superb performance): smut peddler, misogynist, and Editor in Chief of the... In THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT, Milos Forman expertly directs the viewer's sympathy toward Larry Flynt (Woody Harrelson in a superb performance): smut peddler, misogynist, and Editor in Chief of the infamous Hustler magazine. Born in the back woods of Appalachia, the young Flynt--in an opening scene that immediately grabs and amuses--is seen selling moonshine as a child to alcoholic hermits. Flash forward to the 1960s, and he's running a go-go club where he meets the wild (and strangely loveable) Althea Leasure (Courtney Love) who becomes his soul mate and wife. Life is not as sweet as it first seems for the porn king who finds a massive readership for his magazine (the first to show crotch shots). He soon finds himself in the middle of several Supreme Court law suits, and also as an assassin's target. While Flynt's various outrageous meetings with self-righteous Reverend Jerry Falwell (Richard Paul) and devout Christian Ruth Carter Stapleton (President Jimmy Carter's sister, played by Rudolph Giuliani's ex-wife Donna Hanover) are hilarious and smartly pointed, it is perhaps the touching, and ultimately tragic, love story between him and Althea that make him very human, and very interesting to watch. [More]

Starring: Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love, Edward Norton, Miles Chapin

Starring: Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love, Edward Norton, Miles Chapin, Vincent Schiavelli, Donna Hanover, Crispin Glover, James Cromwell, Richard Paul, Brett Harrelson, James Carville

Director: Milos Forman

Director: Milos Forman
Screenwriter: Larry Karaszewski, Scott Alexander
Producer: Oliver Stone, Janet Yang, Michael Hausman
Composer: Thomas Newman

[See More Credits]

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
Release:

May 6, 2003

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for The People Vs. Larry Flynt

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
10/18/08
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An exultant comedy of American repression and revolt.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
06/30/08
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A brave, spectacularly entertaining -- and unexpectedly stirring -- account of Flynt's life that asks us to regard the publisher of Hustler magazine as an invaluable champion of our First Amendment freedoms.

Full Review Source: Newsweek | comment Comment
06/30/08
David Ansen
David Ansen
Newsweek
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Long after you've grown tired of his escapades, the scenes in which he and Althea support one another against the slings an arrows of outrageous fortune are touching and, ultimately, genuinely tragic.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
06/30/08
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

One of the truly bizarre careers in recent American cultural life provides the source of tart and tasty amusement in The People vs. Larry Flynt.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
06/30/08
Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Woody Harrelson plays Flynt with energy, and Courtney Love does at least as well as his wife.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
06/30/08
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

We're really celebrating Hollywood's freedom to create biographies of anyone, no matter how high or low on the social ladder, and still come up with the same banal characteristics, messages and conclusions.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
06/30/08
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The movie is a lot of fun for long stretches.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
05/26/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

The exploitative misogyny of Flynt's output is never examined, the prurient hypocrisy and intolerance of his persecutors seriously overplayed, plus Larry and Althea's odd romance lacks bittersweet conviction.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out

I sincerely hope The People Versus Larry Flynt goes all the way and wins the Academy Award.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Chris Gore
Chris Gore
Film Threat

Funny, fascinating, and maybe just a little unsettling.

Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com | comment Comment
09/15/05
Michael Dequina
Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com

Great.

Full Review Source: sbs.is | comment Comment
07/08/05
Stefan Birgir Stefansson
Stefan Birgir Stefansson
sbs.is

The screenplay, by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, is rich in detail and dialogue.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
04/09/05
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

Proof that you can find patriotism in the most unlikely of places.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
07/25/04
Steve Davis
Steve Davis
Austin Chronicle

The latest movie from the great director Milos Forman is a sensational, irreverent docudrama. And, as they say in the porno trade, it's adult entertainment.

Full Review Source: Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) | comment Comment
07/01/04
Judith Egerton
Judith Egerton
Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)

I dug it.

Full Review Source: Blunt Review | comment Comment
05/30/03
Emily Blunt
Emily Blunt
Blunt Review

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment 3 Comments
05/20/03
Leonard Schwarz
Leonard Schwarz
Palo Alto Weekly

Whitewashing the truth is a forgivable sin in the world of biopics, but to demean ideologies by remaining "balanced" is cowardly.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
05/16/03
Eric Henderson
Eric Henderson
Slant Magazine

Very entertaining.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
05/05/03
Dragan Antulov
Dragan Antulov
rec.arts.movies.reviews

It is a good film with good performances. The trouble is, it's about Larry Flynt.

Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | comment Comment
03/27/03
Robert Roten
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
all

Latest News for The People Vs. Larry Flynt

July 02, 2008: Total Recall: RT Celebrates the Bill of Rights
We the people of Rotten Tomatoes, in order to make this Independence Day more perfect, do ordain and establish this Total Recall as a cinematic tribute to the Bill of Rights. More...

December 26, 2007: Total Recall: In Honor of AVP:R, Memorable Cinematic Title Fights
This week, we're taking it to the screen with Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, the latest mash up of modern sci-fi's two coolest franchises in a winner-take-all battle royale. Why... More...

April 05, 2006: Jackson Joins Cusack in King's Haunted "1408"
With a few new Stephen King adaptations on the way (including Desperation and Cell), Dimension is readying 1408, a ghost story about a professional "debunker" who has... More...

March 09, 2006: Cusack Checks In to King's "1408"
Popular actor John Cusack has signed on to star in the movie adaptation of Stephen King's short story "1408," says Variety. The story, which is available on King's... More...

See All

More DVDs

Close
Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
45% 45% Ice Age: Dawn of the D…
19% 19% Transformers: Revenge …
55% 55% Orphan
43% 43% The Proposal
26% 26% Land of the Lost

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
98% 98% Up
88% 88% Ballast
67% 67% The Merry Gentleman

More New Releases…

See All

RT On Current TV

The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current TV

DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...

Learn how you can be part of the show

More...

What’s Hot On RT

60+ New Moon pics

60+ New Moon pics

You want Twilight images? We got 'em!

Transylmania

Transylmania

Cheeky trailer for the vampire comedy!

John Cusack

John Cusack

We list his 10 top rated movies!

Salt trailer

Salt trailer

Angelina Jolie! Espionage! Check it out!

Other News

Close
  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Rachel McAdams Rumored for Spider-Man 4 Source: Mania.com
126
  • Danny Elfman Leaves The Wolfman Source: Cinemusic.net
22
  • Oldboy Remake Rumored Dead Source: Latino Review
14
  • Francis Lawrence Directing a Futuristic Sgt. Rock Source: Hollywood Reporter
2
  • Can Avatar Make Money? Source: New York Times
97
  • Robert Pattinson Says Breaking Dawn Could Roll in Fall 2010 Source: Collider.com
34
  • Joe Johnston Talks The Wolfman Source: Ain't It Cool News
8
  • Jason Schwartzman Talks Scott Pilgrim Source: Collider.com
1
  • Weekly Ketchup: Abrams eyes Micronauts, Aykroyd as Yogi Bear
102
  • J.J. Abrams Producing Micronauts Movie? Source: Wall Street Journal
11
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Critics Consensus: A Christmas Carol Dazzles But Disappoints
43
  • Total Recall: John Cusack's Best Movies
43
  • Ho-ho-horror! 10 Scary Christmas Movies
36
  • RT on DVD: Up, the Ultimate Watchmen Cut, and More
36
  • Weekly Ketchup: Abrams eyes Micronauts, Aykroyd as Yogi Bear
34
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Christmas Carol Tops, Precious Rocks
32
  • Friday Harvest: Prince of Persia, The Road, and more!
26
  • Five Favorite Films with Roland Emmerich
25
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
14
  • RT's Holiday Movie Preview -- Find Out What's Hot This Season!
0
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
14
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
15
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
8
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
  • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel
28
  • Duncan Jones talks Moon, Sam Rockwell, and Mute
14
  • Emma Stone talks Zombieland - RT Interview
40
  • Michael Moore: The RT Interview
139
  • Andrea Arnold talks Fish Tank - RT Interview
4
  • Neill Blomkamp talks District 9 - RT Interview
51
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • The People Vs. Larry Flynt at Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh Links

Featured
Worst Movie Biopics
Worst Movie Biopics External Link

Moviefone brings us 9 failed attempts at biographical films.

Top Cameron Crowe Moments
Top Cameron Crowe Moments External Link

TIME reminisces on the 10 most iconic moments from the films of Cameron Crowe.

November Films
November Films External Link

BuzzSugar wants to know which movies coming out this month you're most looking forward to.

The New Cult Canon
The New Cult Canon External Link

The AV Club takes a look back at Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.