People -- Get Ready

Another stab at a biopic? I probably shouldn't, but okay. How about The People vs. Larry Flynt?

It turned out that this was pretty strong for a biography movie. And that's because there was a spine to the narrative to connect the movie together. Ultimately, the theme of the movie is about free speech and the First Amendment. So rather than take random episodes from the life of Larry Flynt, the movie picked from episodes relevant to that theme.

Well, mostly. The first 20 minutes or so are a little bit rocky. A prologue showing Flynt as a young child selling moonshine has no real relevance to the narrative. And the early segments in which he meets the woman he would ultimately marry are a bit slow paced. Necessary, probably, as the fate of his wife in the final act puts him in a fighting mood that ultimately leads to his Supreme Court challenge. Still, it takes some time for the movie to find its way on to the proper path.

Fortunately, Woody Harrelson is a fine actor to guide the film through those rough patches and then carry it on once it picks up. His Flynt is a likeable rogue, entertaining one moment and infuriating the next. Edward Norton makes an unflashy appearance as Flynt's lawyer; he's a great actor, but doesn't really have any great scenes here. And then there's Courtney Love as Flynt's wife. It's hard to know what to make of her performance, because one imagines that in portraying such a shattered mess of a woman, she might be rather close to her actual personality. (Or at least, the one she seems to project; you could perhaps argue it's full time "acting," but I wouldn't try to.) In any case, it's a raw performance that serves the movie well.

All told, I'd say the movie pulls together at about a B-. Better than most without being exceptional, though a pleasant surprise for the genre.