For at least its first half-hour or so, when the beginnings of a genuine psychological profile seem to be promised, this is a fascinating look at the life, fantasies, and empire of Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner, directed by Robert Heath and written by Heath, Gary H. Grossman, and Michael Gross. But the rest of the film bears such a resemblance to an authorized version that it might as well have been subsidized by Hefner himself; it’s fawning in its hushed tones and so minimal in acknowledging feminist objections to Hefner’s worldview that they are made to seem like distant thunder. Shot on video and transferred to film, this is an industrial in almost every sense, though certainly a well-made example of the genre. David Lynch’s erstwhile partner Mark Frost served as executive producer and James Coburn delivers the reverential narration. (JR)