Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel

Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel documents Playboy founder Hugh Hefner’s rise from struggling magazine publisher to cultural icon with a decidedly conventional flair – as filmmaker Brigitte Berman approaches her subject with a reverence that generally ensures Hefner is presented in an almost idealized light. This ultimately isn’t quite as problematic as one might’ve initially suspected, however, as Berman does a nice job of exploring virtually every facet of Hefner’s existence – which ensures that one ultimately walks away from the picture with a new appreciation for the legendary magnate (ie he’s far from the sleazeball that the media often paints him as). Hefner’s interest in a myriad of socially-conscious causes ultimately receives the lion’s share of screentime, with the emphasis consistently placed on the surprising impact that Hef has had on, among others, the civil rights movement and the fight for free speech. And as fascinating as some of these anecdotes admittedly are (eg Alex Haley, in his capacity as an interviewer for Playboy, recalls his less-than-friendly encounter with neo Nazi George Lincoln Rockwell), Berman’s tendency to remain on one topic well past the point of necessity ultimately dulls the impact of the film’s more overtly positive elements. The 135-minute running time undoubtedly exacerbates this feeling, as one ultimately can’t help but imagine that the movie would’ve been better off had it been capped at the hour-and-a-half mark – yet despite its deficiencies, Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel remains worth a look due to its all-encompassing look at Hefner’s storied existence and also for its intriguing selection of blast-from-the-past clips (ie in addition to its various interviews, the movie offers up performance excerpts from an eclectic selection of musicians and comedians).

**1/2 out of ****