SnoopyStyle This is a gushing unbalanced Canadian documentary praising the Playboy founder Hugh Hefner.It hits on all the highlights from the beginning. It's mostly about Playboy and its influence.There are a lot of famous talking heads, some of which are kind of surprising.But the rebuttal talking heads are really limited and sticking to the well worn arguments.It covers a lot of history. But it's one sided. Maybe the filmmaker should ask for a second opinion.

RNMorton I admit I only watched bits and pieces of this, well, whatever it is - documentary? Tribute? Position paper? The problem I have with these things - much like PBS' anti-creationist propaganda or Bill Maher - is that they pick some of the lamest opponents to make it look like they are presenting a complete picture, when really they're just straw dogs. And I don't want to be completely hypocritical, I looked at my share of Playboys in my time. I agree with some of Hef's beliefs and disagree with others. So the question is, is Hef a modern martyr for his beliefs or does he just pose as the coolest guy in town? Sorry, but I've always seen Hef as an opportunist who likes women a lot and has interesting views on behavior with women, sort of the ultimate urban alpha male who spends at least part of his time justifying his inappropriate lifestyle. This movie didn't change my mind. I really wasn't offended, I just hope people don't watch this and think Hef is the Pope. He's not, but he sure is one rich guy with a cool image and a lot of girls.

misterdom I had the chance to assist a projection in Boston where Director Brigitte Berman was present, coming from Europe and being in my late 20ies there was not much I knew about Hefner besides it's contribution to the sexual revolution of America and the rest of the world.As a consequence, the movie was full of revelations for me, jumping from one fight for freedom from Hefner and his team to another. The director beautifully manages to catch the mindset of Playboy's manager soul behind the bunnies, at a much deeper level.What especially stroke me was the ability of the director to constantly depict the paradoxes between Hefners' primal/liberal way of thinking about sexuality and it's philosophical fights for everyone's freedom and culture. You get to discover a man pursuing his dreams through is entire life and get to discover a revolutionary mindset where pleasure and great achievements are not necessarily unrelated.Hefner is not yet in any of our (at least Europeans) history books but like him or not, he deserves to be and I would advise anybody, who like me, is missing that piece of history to run see this documentary.

FilmRap Filmmaker Brigitte Berman won an Oscar for her documentary film about iconic musician Artie Shaw. Hugh Hefner is a great jazz aficionado and founded the acclaimed Playboy Jazz Festival which is how they had occasion to meet and get to know each other. Berman decided that she wanted to make a documentary about Hefner but one, which shows the largely unknown side of the man who in most people's minds represents the Playboy lifestyle of beautiful women and lots of sex. Hefner liked the idea of such a film and gave Berman free access to his vast archives as well as participating in extensive interviews with her. Friends of Hefner such as James Caan, Tony Bennett, Dick Cavett, Joan Baez, Jessie Jackson, Jim Brown, Bill Maher, Dick Gregory and others also gave very fascinating interviews. What emerged in the two hour and 4 minute film was a picture of a hardworking man who was determined to be a success. He loved women (many women) and did not believe that he was demeaning them by making them sexual objects. More to the point of the documentary, he had a sense of fairness and acceptance that was completely color blind at a time when much of the country and certainly the entertainment industry was not. He did not allow discrimination towards blacks to occur in his Playboy Clubs and commonly showcased black entertainers on his after hours TV shows. Interviews with Jessie Jackson, Jim Brown and Dick Gregory were extremely clear on this point. Hefner also did not hesitate to have writers, who were blacklisted as communists or communist sympathizers by the nefarious Senator Joseph McCarthy, to continue to write for Playboy magazine under their own name, which was unheard of at that time.He also had blacklisted performers on this television show. This film is not only enlightening about these contributions of this man but it also is quite entertaining as it includes wonderful clips of Sammy Davis Junior performing as well as ad-libbing on the Hefner TV show. There was a young Tony Bennett performing in his relaxed style. We saw a beautiful Joan Baez singing and youthful Pete Seeger doing his thing with some injected clips of the craggy older Seeger reflecting on the significance of Hefner's support of him and his causes. James Mark Stewart provided an excellent original score for the background of most of the movie There are a few counterpoints to the Hefner's views about sexuality and the Playboy life style which are periodically presented in the film by such people as Susan Brownmiller, Pat Boone and others. They are shown as weak rebuttals, at times almost humorous. It is clear that this film is an admiring tribute to Hefner now in his 80s. Ms. Berman director, producer, writer and editor told us that Hefner was extremely pleased and touched after seeing the documentary. The filmmaker said that she wanted to show him objectively as he really was which led me to ask her if there was anything in the film that Hefner didn't like? She said no. The film comes to an end with Hefner being true to his philosophy and reinventing himself after two marriages by now having seven intimate girlfriends which he then cuts down three. There is a very revealing statement by this older guy reflecting on his life. He indicated that he understands that his outgoing life style of loving and enjoying many women has to do with the fact that his parents were very cold and rejecting. In fact as a child he says he was never hugged. Even though he has had a very successful life, it is sad to see the lingering effects of what has been missing from his childhood.