Factotum (2006)

Vastly superior movie to Barbet Schroeder's "Barfly", despite Mickey Rourke's entertaining performance in the latter. Novelist and poet Charles Bukowski's excellent (and some would say, unfilmable) book about the author's incredible unemployment and employment history, as well as your usual Bukowski boozing and fornicating with unhygienic women, receives an almost unheard of luxury in Hollywood: a decent script. Lead Matt Dillon is an undeniably odd casting choice when remembering Rourke's presence, or, worse, viewing actual pictures of Bukowski, who closely resembled a 116 year old, bloated, Native-American woman with bullet-riddled hide for skin, and a head the shape and size of the author's own buttocks. But Dillon captures more of Bukowski's less violent misanthropy and more of his gentleness and charm beneath the outbursts of drunken violence. Schroeder's film celebrated the obnoxious fist-fights, with supporting characters--more like drunk extras--staggering around in the worst cartoon performances since the hillbillies in "The Minstrel Killer". Whereas here, the people are downtrodden and f---ed up without losing their humanity. Lili Taylor is excellent as Dillon's closest thing to a steady girlfriend, and just as the movie sustains its share of sadness, there's plenty of grotesque laughs and clever dialogue: TAYLOR: "God said, love thy neighbor. DILLON: "Yeah, and he also said to leave him alone." One static shot of a typical Bukowski morning involving nausea, vomit, and beer is equally uplifting. And accurate. A well-paced movie to boot. The trailer and even the box art reeked of "indie" indulgence, but, instead, this is a tight, well-acted portrait of the true outlaw/outcast/artist that was Bukowski, rather than the bumbling pugilist Rourke created in "Barfly", plus that movie doesn't age for sh-t. Terribly sorry, Frank Stallone fans.

I have waited a long time to see this movie. IFC finally ran it one night. I thought it would be something like "Barfly" from Barbet Schroeder. Wrong. This film doesn't recreate that underworld of chintzy, dirty, smoke filled, character filled bars you associate with his stories. It also fails to capture that Bukowski attitude that Mickey Rourke did so well in the above mentioned film. That natural smart-ass attitude. Fans of Charles Bukowski will enjoy seeing scenes from his books on screen but those unfamiliar with his books could get the wrong impression about his works. This film looks like just another 'Movie Of The Week" about a drunk and his relationships. If you want to get a better idea about Charles Bukowski's world watch "Barfly".

This movie has some good lines, but watching Dillon's less-than-masterful Rourke impersonation just left me wanting to see the original. I like Marisa Tomei but she's no Faye Dunaway.Also, in my opinion, the number one movie rule is to make the lead character someone you care about. You might not LOVE the character, but you should care what happens to him. This is achieved in Barfly with the hilarious running gag about the fights with Eddie the bartender. The main fight in Factotum is when, completely unprovoked, he stalks up to the Lily Taylor character in a bar, punches her to the floor and calls her a whore.The whole thing just didn't work. Again, some great lines -- some laugh-out-loud funny -- but as a movie overall it's a fail. Mediocre attempt at reinventing something that was brilliant, and you can't get past that. Next? Let's remake Breakfast at Tiffany's with Kate Hudson.

In Los Angeles, the alcoholic and lazy Hank Chinaski (Matt Dillon) performs a wide range of non-qualified functions just to get enough money to drink and gamble in horse races. His primary and only objective is writing and having sexy with dirty women."Factotum" is an uninteresting, pointless and extremely boring movie about an irresponsible drunken vagrant that works a couple of days or weeks just to get enough money to buy spirits and gamble, being immediately fired due to his reckless behavior. In accordance with IMDb, this character would be the fictional alter-ego of the author Charles Bukowski, and based on this story, I will certainly never read any of his novels. Honestly, if the viewer likes this theme of alcoholic couples, better off watching the touching and heartbreaking Hector Babenco's "Ironweed" or Marco Ferreri's "Storie di Ordinaria Follia" that is based on the life of the same writer. My vote is four.Title (Brazil): "Factotum – Sem Destino" ("Factotum – Without Destiny")