THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT
Showtime, 10:00 p.m. ET
Director Milos Forman, whose fabulous films have included One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Amadeus, and Man on the Moon (the story of Andy Kaufman), did another wonderful job with this 1996 movie. It’s the fact-based story of Hustler publisher Larry Flynt’s first-amendment court battle – and Forman was bold enough not just to reposition the misogynist porn publisher as a defender of press freedoms, but to cast his movie biography just as boldly. Other directors had recognized the potential of former Cheers player Woody Harrelson (Oliver Stone in 1994’s dark Natural Born Killers, the Farrelly Brothers in 1996’s ultra-lite Kingpin), but Forman and Harrelson both took a big risk with this one – and it paid off. Harrelson’s leading lady, playing his wife, was another gamble: she’s played by Courtney Love, headline-grabbing widow of Kurt Cobain. She’s excellent here also. And if you look closely, there are other, smaller roles played by similarly unusual casting choices. People who don’t often act in movies, but who act in this one in brief supporting roles, include political strategist James Carville and, as a Cincinnati judge, Larry Flynt himself.