AboveDeepBuggy Some things I liked some I did not.

ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

Cody One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

cmikeolsen After I started watching this documentary I realized that I've had the completely wrong perception of Playboy my whole life, i.e. if I'm to believe everything depicted in this documentary. I've only browsed through Playboy magazine a few times in my life, and I never read any of the articles in it ;-) Though I've always been fascinated by the life of Hugh Hefner, though from a purely sexual perspective. After watching the first 4 episodes of this series though, I'm even more fascinated and impressed by this man as I had no idea he was such a visionary and innovative entrepreneur and that he had such a nag for surrounding himself with talented people. Further, the documentary gives the distinct impression that he was anti-establishment, an equal opportunity employer, had an open door policy, was a great boss, was surprisingly respectful of women (even though at the same time he was obviously exploiting them too), was color blind and, even though indirectly and possibly unintended, he supported for the civil rights of blacks by ignoring the fact that the southern states didn't want to air his Playboy Penthouse TV show because he had a lot of black entertainers on this show. It's almost too good to be true. And as mentioned I have only seen 4 episodes so far, but I kind of doubt the tone is going to sway again Hefner. Lastly, I liked the acting and the occasional switching back to real Hefner footage.

stevejotom So from reading previous reviews on here, I for one would like to champion it as an enlightening story. It depicts playboy through the decades and how it changes in order to remain relevant, yes some of it is pandering, however, the reminder of what society was like then and now is enough to enjoy the events of history. It is actually sobering to to see what life was like back in the 50's and how far we have progressed to the present day, it is not quite what Happy Days portrayed IMHO. So watch it, it is rewarding, enjoyable and informative in a slightly biased way. Hugh is what he was, in his time he was relevant, he seams old fashioned and antiquated now, but that is evolution. For what he was and what he believed in you have to appreciate what he tried and did achieve.

TheMovonka "American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story" is an interesting way of modern biography to invite viewers to be part of the history of an empire led and built by Hugh Hefner and his long term comrades.With the meanwhile usual approach of reenacting key scenes in the development of the Playboy Magazine including its whole empire by young actors as Matt Whelan or various actresses to embody famous playmates over the years, a young generation can experience the roller-coaster of a successful enterprise and the life of its founder.By combining the recreated series plots with original footage, interviews and pictures, Amazon offers a well-structured and entertaining documentary to feel informed and motivated for own ventures to build, own ways to pursue and own values to live for. Despite the ten episodes are well cut to deliver high points in the 60 year Playboy story, highs and lows repeat especially concerning the way how positive Hefs life, decisions or thoughts are presented. In the light of personal tragedies, business decisions or love dramas, the series is a little too black and white instead of fair gray to reality besides a questionable impersonation of Hugh Hefner by the quite different looking main actor. This does not lower any entertainment, but gives away mostly idealistic opinions only. You may all challenge by yourself, is Hef really happy, wasn't he quite fake to his first wife and kids, is he true to himself anyhow and is Playboy lying about their core business model to avoid critiques? I say, have fun in discussing it after being pulled in into the world of Business, Boys and Bunnies of Playboy.

GeoPierpont I had an annual subscription to Playboy while I was in Grad School. That is saying something as I could barely afford food but loved this publication as a sweet indulgence. This series was intriguing, beguiling and fascinating.Hef experienced extreme heart break when he found out his first love was cheating on him and then proceeded to insure his future relationships would never encounter such betrayal, what a supreme hypocrite!!The history of the magazine and subsequent enterprises were detailed with interest and the many challenges and frustrations with first amendment rights are commendable.The women were stunning, kind, and most of all very supportive of the Playboy brand. So even if Gloria Steinem revealed the seedy side of being a Bunny it was parlayed as an exploitation journalist which I feel was extremely unfair.No doubt this is a controversial subject to both men and women but I found when I accepted this foray into pornography it actually helped my marriage, so I cannot complain.High recommend for fans of First Amendment rights, gorgeous naked women, and of course those in-depth interviews. No comparison to what is available online these dayz!