January 16–23, 1997
movie shorts
Milos Forman's film makes Larry Flynt, Hustler publisher self-described purveyor of "bad taste," look like an intrepid champion for the First Amendment, a man speaking with "the people" rather than against them. Its meansof reaching this particular end are absorbingly contorted, in the sense that our hero is simultaneously ugly, charming, offensive, passionate, astute and ignorant. Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski shrewdly use an outcast-protagonist,bio-episodic structure, and weirdo supporting cast (Larry Flynt's includes Crispin Glover, Vincent Schiavelli and Donna Hanover), in order to frame a substantive, specific and occasionally rowdy commentary on U.S. culture.
(UA Grant; UA Riverview; UA Ardmore; Ritz 12)