Such a frustrating disappointment

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

I just saw this over the weekend, and quite enjoyed it, but I still can't somehow wonder if I would've enjoyed it more had I not already seen the 1996 film, Milos Forman's "The People Vs. Larry Flynt", which was basically a dramatization of most of the same events we see in this documentary-?? I gave the film an 8/10, but that rating was mostly meant for the movie by itself, separate from the previous film. To be honest, if I were to give this movie a rating having already seen PVLF, it would probably be more like a 6/10, only because I felt like I had already seen it to some degree. But overall, a good documentary, in spite of it falling flat a little bit here and there. And lots of great interviews from some well-known folks in the "jizz bizz" including Flynt himself, Ron Jeremy, Al Goldstein, Luke Ford, Amber Lynn, etc...

"Back Issues: The Hustler Magazine Story" is the definitive documentary on porn magazine Hustler, from its nightclub inception on through today, as it adapts to pornography in the 21st century. Director Michael Lee Nirenberg's father was one of the original art directors in the 1970s and 1980s.What makes this so great is that it is not just a look at Larry Flynt, but also tackles Screw magazine and Al Goldstein. And it may surprise people that Hustler was more influenced by Screw than Penthouse or Playboy, which are the more widely-known magazines of the type.And hearing the Flynt thinks Hefner would be more comfortable with Time magazine than Playboy? This is probably spot on, because Hefner is actually a rather conservative individual despite the obvious appearance to the contrary. And Penthouse was seen as art and was trying to be art? (Ron Jeremy actually backs this up, suggesting they were more like fashion models.) This is just so incredible, beginning to end, and highlights a piece of 20th century history that has yet to fully be explored.