The People vs. Larry Flynt is a 1996 American biographical comedy-drama film directed by Miloš Forman, written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, and starring Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love, and Edward Norton. It spans approximately 35 years of the life of pornographer Larry Flynt (Harrelson), from his impoverished upbringing in Kentucky to his marriage to Althea Leasure (Love), the rise of Hustler magazine, and his 1988 United States Supreme Court battle with Reverend Jerry Falwell.
After premiering at the New York Film Festival in October 1996, The People vs. Larry Flynt was released theatrically on December 25, 1996. Despite limited success at the box office, the film was widely acclaimed by critics and garnered Harrelson, Love, Norton, and Forman numerous accolades, including a Best Actor nomination for Harrelson and Best Director nomination for Forman at the 69th Academy Awards. Forman won the Golden Globe Award for Best Director, while Harrelson and Love were nominated in the categories of Best Actor – Drama and Best Actress – Drama, respectively.
Though the film garnered largely favorable critical reviews, it was subject to a significant campaign condemning it, led by Gloria Steinem and other feminist groups, who regarded it as a glorification of Flynt and his alleged exploitation of women. Despite these accusations, the film was defended by free speech proponents and organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union.
Plot In 1972, Larry Flynt and his younger brother, Jimmy, run the Hustler Go-Go, a struggling strip club in Cincinnati. In a bid to improve his business, Flynt decides to publish a newsletter for the club featuring nude photos of his strippers, which he names Hustler. The newsletter soon becomes a full-fledged magazine, but sales are weak. After Hustler publishes photos of former first lady Jackie Kennedy Onassis sunbathing nude in 1972, it becomes a national sensation, and Larry decides to focus on it full-time.
Flynt becomes smitten with Althea Leasure, a young bisexual dancer he allows to work despite her being underage. With his success comes enemies – as he finds himself a hated figure of anti-pornography activists. He argues with the activists, declaring that "murder is illegal, but if you take a picture of it, you may get your name in a magazine or maybe win a Pulitzer Prize. However, sex is legal, but if you take a picture of that act, you can go to jail." He becomes involved in several prominent court cases, and befriends his young and idealistic lawyer, Alan Isaacman.
In 1975, Flynt is convicted on pornography charges, but the decision is overturned on appeal; he is released from jail soon afterward. Ruth Carter Stapleton, a Christian activist and sister of President Jimmy Carter, seeks out Flynt and urges him to give his life to Jesus; this results in Flynt attempting to turn his life around and even push for Hustler to become a more tasteful publication in line with his competitors. However, Althea, who blames her molestation by nuns during her years in Catholic school for her problems, grows to resent him.
In 1978, during another trial in Georgia, Flynt and Isaacman are both shot by a man with a rifle while they walk outside a courthouse. Isaacman recovers, but Flynt is paralyzed from the waist down and uses a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Broken by the experience, Flynt renounces his faith, turns over control of Hustler to Jimmy and Althea, and moves to Beverly Hills, where he quickly spirals into drug addiction to combat his depression and crippling pain. In 1983, Flynt undergoes surgery to deaden several nerves in his back damaged by the bullet wounds, and as a result, feels rejuvenated. He soon returns to an active role with the publication.
Flynt is soon in court again for leaking videos relating to the John DeLorean entrapment case, and during his courtroom antics, he fires Isaacman, then throws an orange at the judge. He later wears an American flag as an adult diaper along with an Army helmet, and wears provocative T-shirts. After spitting water at the judge, Flynt is committed to a psychiatric ward, where he sinks into depression again. Flynt publishes a satirical parody ad in which Jerry Falwell tells of a drunken sexual encounter with his mother. Falwell sues for libel and emotional distress. Flynt countersues for copyright infringement, because Falwell copied his ad and used it to raise funds for his legal bills. The case goes to trial in December 1984, but the decision is mixed, as Flynt is found liable for inflicting emotional distress but not libel and is forced to pay damages to Falwell.
Althea, now a morphine addict, visits Flynt and reveals her AIDS diagnosis; disgusted to learn that the Hustler staff won't even shake her hand, Flynt arranges a company meeting via phone call and fires everyone. Althea comes to live with him, but later drowns in the bathtub after passing out. Flynt presses Isaacman to appeal the Falwell decision to the Supreme Court of the United States. Isaacman refuses, saying Flynt's courtroom antics humiliated him. Flynt pleads with him, saying that he "wants to be remembered for something meaningful". Isaacman finally agrees to represent him in front of the Supreme Court, in the case Hustler Magazine v. Falwell in December 1987. With Flynt sitting silently in the courtroom, the court overturns the original verdict in a unanimous decision. After the trial, Flynt sits alone in his bedroom, watching old home movies of a happy, healthy Althea and himself.
Cast
Production Casting
Both Bill Murray and Tom Hanks were considered for the role of Larry Flynt before Woody Harrelson was cast. Commenting on portraying Flynt, Harrelson said: "I really came to like him, I don't think I would've been much into doing the movie if I hadn't come to respect Larry. I don't respect much the pornography part of what he does, but what he is as a person, and the rebel that he is." Flynt's brother, Jimmy, is played by Brett Harrelson, the real-life brother of Woody Harrelson. William J. Morrissey Jr., a Cincinnati court judge who sentenced Flynt in 1977, is played in the film by Larry Flynt himself.
Forman auditioned numerous actresses for the role of Flynt's wife, Althea Leasure. Rachel Griffiths, Georgina Cates, Patricia Arquette, Mira Sorvino, and Courtney Love were all considered for the part, though Forman narrowed the selection down to Griffiths, Cates, and Love. Love, primarily known as the lead singer and guitarist of the alternative rock band Hole, was an active heroin and narcotics user at the time and had recently completed a world tour supporting the band's second album, which was widely publicized due to a series of legal issues and her unpredictable behavior.
Forman recalled a conversation with Love during the casting process: "[I told her] 'Listen, you are my first choice. I will fight for you if you can give me your word that you will not betray me. And it's not that I will stop loving you—I will love you even if you betray me, but I wouldn't cast you if you can't promise me that.' And she promised." Despite hesitation from Columbia Pictures executives, Love's casting was announced in late 1995. After the studio's insurance company refused to insure Love, Forman, producers Janet Yang and Oliver Stone, co-star Harrelson, and Love herself split the cost of an insurance policy amounting to $750,000. As a provision, she was ordered to take multiple supervised urine tests while filming, which she passed. "Miloš made me give him my word that I would never do heroin again," Love said. "I went to rehab just to two the twelve-step thing and do the twenty eight days, but I never did heroin again, and I did no drugs on the set of that film." She also went on a diet and lost at Forman's suggestion.
Edward Norton, who had recently received critical acclaim for his portrayal of a psychopath in Primal Fear (1996), was cast in the role of Flynt's attorney, Alan Isaacman. Norton and co-star Love began dating after making the film, and were a couple for approximately three years.
Filming Principal photography of The People vs. Larry Flynt began in February 1996, with location shooting occurring in Memphis, Tennessee. Additional filming took place in Bel Air, Los Angeles at a private residence which was used as Flynt's lavish home.
Release Marketing Columbia Pictures' original poster art for the film was censored in the United States by the Motion Picture Association of America and withdrawn from circulation. The image featured a doll-sized Flynt (Harrelson) imposed over the groin below a female's abdomen, posed with his arms outstretched and wearing an American flag around his waist. Producer Janet Yang commented, "It was the mixture of the religious and the sexual. It was a very strong graphic. It reflects sex—even though the film really isn't titillating—and sacrilege. It really does say it all."
As a replacement, a headshot of Flynt bearing an American flag over his mouth was used for the film's redesigned poster in the United States. Despite its censorship domestically, the image was used as the film's main promotional poster artwork internationally, and was also used for the film's special edition DVD release in 2003, though it was obscured by a semi-translucent slipcover for the latter.
In France, a group made up of 31 Catholics and a conservative organization attempted to have the poster banned on grounds of obscenity, but a Paris court refused to censor the poster.
Theatrical run The People vs. Larry Flynt premiered at the New York Film Festival on October 13, 1996. It subsequently received a limited theatrical release, opening in Los Angeles on December 25, 1996, and in New York City on December 27. The film's release expanded wide to 1,233 venues on January 10, 1997.
Home media Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released a special edition DVD in 2003. A Blu-ray edition was later issued by Sony on August 27, 2019.
Arrow Video released a limited edition 4K UHD Blu-ray on August 4, 2026.
Reception Box office The film grossed $20,300,385 in the United States and Canada. The film grossed $23 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $43 million against a $35 million budget.
Critical response Based on 61 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an overall approval rating of 89%, with an average score of 7.6/10. The site's consensus states, "The People vs. Larry Flynt pays entertaining tribute to an irascible iconoclast with a well-constructed biopic that openly acknowledges his troublesome flaws." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 79 out of 100 based on reviews from 24 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film four out of four stars, particularly praising the lead performances of Harrelson and Love: "[Althea] is made by Love into a kind of life force, misdirected but uncompromised. It is quite a performance; Love proves she is not a rock star pretending to act, but a true actress, and Harrelson matches her with his portrait of a man who has one thing on his mind, and never changes it." Ebert included the film in his 1996 essay on his favorite films of the year, reiterating Love's "virtuoso performance."