Ever see one of those movies that makes you wanna go out and conquer the world, as soon as you leave the theater?

Happens every time I see Thelma and Louise or Dead Poets Society, and now, I can add The People vs. Larry Flynt to that highly exclusive list.

People tells the story of Larry Flynt (could you guess that by the title?), the founder of Hustler magazine. Flynt, played with amazing realism by Woody Harrelson, and Hustler were porno pioneers, if you’d like to call them that, simply because they pushed the envelope way past the point that made even Hugh Hefner nervous.

Flynt started up a newsletter that contained — gasp! — pictures of naked women, and the first issue basically flopped.

But then Hustler got a hold of some photos of Jackie Onassis wearing nothing but a smile, and that particular issue sold some two million copies.

In following issues, Flynt urged his photographers and models to teeter over the cutting edge. He encouraged them to spread their legs wider, make Santa Claus the subject of a cartoon and run an ad that suggested that Jerry Falwell (the Reverend Jerry Falwell) had incestuous relations with his mother in an outhouse.

Maybe today in the oh-so-liberal ’90s, Hustler ain’t no big thang, but back in the ’70s, it sure caused a bunch of hullabaloo. And people freaked out.

Flynt was arrested for pandering pornographic material and having ties to organized crime.

He was also hauled into court for libel over that little Falwell incident, and the case went all the way to the Supreme Court. Not bad for a kid from the backwoods of Ohio.

Courtney Love, the always-annoying “rock star” (I use the term loosely), plays his employee-turned-lover-turned-wife Althea Leasure.

Aside from the fact that I saw waaaaay too much of Love’s bare breasts during the course of the film, I can actually admit that she embodies the role quite well.

Could it be that another female musician makes good in the movies (  la Madonna in Evita)? Or might it just be that playing an outrageously-coifed, loud-mouthed junkie just ain’t a stretch for our Courtney?

In addition to Ms. Love, tons of other famous faces pop up all over this movie.

Watch for Crispin Glover as Arlo, one of Hustler’s employees who’s there from the very beginning (also check out his groovy and ever-changing hair), James Cromwell as Charles Keating, one of the attorneys prosecuting Flynt, and a pretty hefty part for Woody’s own brother Brett, who plays (surprise) Flynt’s younger brother — he’s a dead ringer for Emilio Estevez.

Watch for Larry Flynt himself to make a small cameo as a Cincinnati judge; he’s the one who looks a bit like Jaba the Hut.

Lastly, I have to recommend that everyone who believes that the First Amendment is more than just ink on parchment should see this movie.

You probably won’t come away with a hankerin’ to buy a copy of Hustler (but then again, you might), but you’ll certainly be inspired and, yes, angry that there are people out there who think that freedom of speech doesn’t apply in certain cases or to certain people.

And I hope that The People vs. Larry Flynt does something to change those minds.

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Sarah Wolf is a senior in English from Lenexa, Kan.