With the plethora of shameful crap that Hollywood churns out year after painful year, it’s a wonder that a film like The People vs. Larry Flynt can even make its way into our theaters. But it has. And my suggestion is that you take advantage of this oddity and go see the movie. It’s a stunningly good piece of work.

The film takes you through the odyssey that was the rise of Larry Flynt and his wildly successful porn publication, Hustler magazine. It begins with Flynt’s childhood years hawking moonshine to Appalachian locals, through his days as operator of a Cincinnati strip-tease joint, to his startling victory in the U.S. Supreme Court defending himself in a libel suit with Reverend Jerry Falwell.

Woody Harrelson is excellent as Flynt; one does not doubt for a moment that he is the authentic thing. He captures Flynt’s spirit, his humor, his pathos and his anger in all of its most earnest ludicrousness. In The People, Flynt had a deep abiding love for his wife Althea Leasure (portrayed by Courtney Love) and the dynamics of this relationship plays a major part in the story. On this front, Harrelson also does a tremendous job, convincing us that a man immersed in gobs of sex with countless women can manage to retain a special heartfelt commitment to one special partner.

The film goes into overdrive after Flynt is paralyzed by a sniper’s bullet. He targets his resentment for being a victim of a horrible and unsolved crime directly at the entity on which he blames his predicament: "The System." And he has had plenty of opportunity to exercise this sentiment. As the title suggests, much of the action takes place within the walls of successive court rooms in which Flynt spends countless hours defending himself in a variety of pornography and libel suits.

The movie does not skirt nor exploit the subject of pornography unnecessarily. Will the film offend you? Just the slogans on the T-shirts that Flynt adorns during his courtroom appearances will undoubtedly do this for many. Samples include "Jesus is an anarchist" and "I wish I was black." My favorite, the simple but effective, "Fuck this court" worn during a Georgia trial.

One particular masterstroke of the movie was the casting of Courtney Love as Flynt’s wife, Althea Leasure. From the moment Love appears flopping her way through one of the most uncoordinated strip teases in modern film-making, she is surprisingly and breathtakingly good. Her chilling portrayal of Althea’s journey through the downward spiral of drug addiction is particularly unnerving. We grow to love her, along with Flynt, as the movie progresses.

Watching The People vs. Larry Flynt will cause most people to experience the gamut of emotions that comes with truly superior film-making. The film is full of some moments that will generate belly-laughs straight from the depths of your gut and others that will cause tears to flow.

Movies do tend to distort facts to their own ends and I suppose The People vs. Larry Flynt is guilty of this to some degree. I suspect that Flynt has been depicted as a bit more of a crusader than he may have actually been in reality. Nevertheless, the main point of the movie -- the preservation of freedom of speech -- is one that should truly hit home for anyone concerned with the liberties that we all enjoy during each passing day.