Factotum

Bukowski - Born Into This Director John Dullaghan's biographical documentary about infamous poet Charles Bukowski, Bukowski: Born Into This, is as much a touching portrait of the author as it is an exposé of his sordid lifestyle. Interspersed between ample vintage footage of Bukowski's poetry readings ar...	The Charles Bukowski Tapes Fifty-two clips of Charles Bukowski ranting and musing comprise Barbet Shroeder's Charles Bukowski Tapes. It was, until now, a rarity that circulated amongst die-hard Bukowski fans, since the release of Shroeder's Bukowski-scripted feature, Barfly. This collection of monologues, ...	Before the Devil Knows You're Dead Sidney Lumet's Before the Devil Knows You're Dead is an exceptionally dark story about a crime gone wrong and the complicated reasons behind it. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke are outstanding as brothers whose mutual love-hate relationship subtly colors their agreement to...	Factotum One of Charles Bukowski's best, this beer-soaked, deliciously degenerate novel follows the wanderings of aspiring writer Henry Chinaski across World War II-era America. Deferred from military service, Chinaski travels from city to city, moving listlessly from one odd job to anot...	Women: A Novel Low-life writer and unrepentant alcoholic Henry Chinaski was born to survive. After decades of slacking off at low-paying dead-end jobs, blowing his cash on booze and women, and scrimping by in flea-bitten apartments, Chinaski sees his poetic star rising at last. Now, at fifty, ...
Barfly The script for this movie was written by outrageous poet-author-alcoholic Charles Bukowski. But director Barbet Schroeder makes it into an oddly amusing story of a pugnacious drunk writer (Mickey Rourke) based on Bukowski himself. Rourke spends almost all of his time at the bar, ...	Ham on Rye: A Novel In what is widely hailed as the best of his many novels, Charles Bukowski details the long, lonely years of his own hardscrabble youth in the raw voice of alter ego Henry Chinaski. From a harrowingly cheerless childhood in Germany through acne-riddled high school years and his a...	post office: A Novel "It began as a mistake." By middle age, Henry Chinaski has lost more than twelve years of his life to the U.S. Postal Service. In a world where his three true, bitter pleasures are women, booze, and racetrack betting, he somehow drags his hangover out of bed every dawn to lug wa...	No Country for Old Men When a man stumbles on a bloody crime scene a pickup truck loaded with heroin & 2 million dollars in irresistible cash his decision to take the money sets off an unstoppable chain of violence. Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 12/26/2008 Starring: Tommy Lee Jones Jo...	There Will Be Blood Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 01/27/2009 Run time: 158 minutes Rating: R

No wonder Bukowski hated movies
I love Bukowski's writing. I couldn't put the book Factotum down. On the other hand, I couldn't wait for the movie Factotum to end. I don't think it captured the spirit of Bukowski one bit, unless we are to believe that his life was slow and boring. I am quite sure that there was rarely a boring day in the life of Charles Bukowski. As far as Matt Dillon goes, with the exception of a the make-up job to make him look like Bukowski, I'm not sure there is any depth to his performance at all. His readings sound like a bad imitation of "An American Prayer" and he's completely stoic on screen. To get a better does of the Bukowski experience, I recommend watching "Born Into This."

Factotum - True To The Spirit of Bukowski If Not The Letter - Deserves A Second Look
Factotum is a very good movie. To my mind, this movie has been misunderstood and somewhat underrated. Much of the criticism of this movie is valid based upon the letter of Bukowski's work. But when you really think about the spirit of his work, this movie succeeds in translating that to a present-day story that more people can relate to. This film best serves those less familiar with his writing. Hopefully Bukuowski fans can give this movie a second chance and grow to appreciate it from that vantage point. There can be no more fitting tribute to the anti-hero persona of Bukowski than Chinaski, his alter-ego smoothly under-played by Matt Dillon. Once again, Dillon hardly matches the profile of the gruff and unattractive Chinaski from the original writings. But he rises to the occasion and embodies the character in ways that looks alone cannot describe. The down-in-the gutter depravity that Bukowski constantly seeks to illuminate with his work is the center piece of this movie. The realism of this movie is so tragic it's comical. Wandering from lost job to failed relationship, Chinaski is often in a drunken stupor of disillusionment and self-loathing. When he does find a woman worth keeping, he can only continuously lose her. This is real life in a world where a man simply doesn't think it's worth it to care. While Mr. Chinaski is offered many opportunities to work below his station as a statue cleaner, factory worker or janitor, he is rarely given the chance to do work that lets him use his passion to write. Sadly, even when one of his stories is chosen, his mail is taken, read, and discarded before he even learns of it. So even his little victories are swept away from him. In making this movie, they made creative decisions that deviated from the original story. The story takes place in the present day and not in the period in which Bukowski lived and worked. Yet they did that to adapt the spirit of Bukowski to a movie for today's audience. The mixed reaction to this movie is akin to the reaction his work and life. So it comes as no surprise to me. What does surprise me is to hear many fans of Bukowski's work state that this movie does not measure up to the message of his writing. In my mind, the spirit of his work should not be overpowered by the literal recounting of it. If you have a dark sense of humor and a love of poetry, this story is painfully funny and all-together real. One can't help but be reminded of that famous Alan Ginsberg poem that starts, "I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical." Granted, this movie's negative message is somewhat of a downer if taken literally. So it is not for everyone. Yet if you can suspend judgment, this is a very interesting movie. The material is succinct yet well done, and the acting is minimalist yet once again well done. The one point I would make in criticism is that the first half of this movie isn't nearly as good as the second half. If you watch the second half alone a few times, it's easier to appreciate what they were shooting for in the beginning. Regardless, I really enjoyed this movie. I've watched it many times and it still rings true to me, despite the artistic liberties they took. This is not for the typical movie night. But if you want to watch something dark, subtle and creative, this is it. Enjoy.

I enjoyed it, but your mileage may vary
As a fan of Bukowski, and a Minneapolis/St. Paul resident (where the movie was filmed), I enjoyed this movie on a few levels. Dillon was great as the typical Bukowski semi-autobiographical character, and the writing and dialog were classic Bukowski. This is probably not a movie for the casual movie watcher that doesn't know Bukowski's work, or appreciate it. But for those of you who do, you should find this as enjoyable as I did.

Excellent film, great acting, very good direction
Now right of the bat, I must mention that a lot of reviewers are unhappy because the original character was quite different and his intrigue was somewhat compromised in this film. I am one of those lucky people who knew nothing about the book, saw the film for what it was without knowing anything about the book, the character and sundry. I think it is a very good film in itself. There are few wasteful films of the sort that deserve a second opinion but Factotum truly stood it's ground and without being boisterous, gave a very good account of Hank Chinaski. I only saw it recently and I must say Dillon is a very good actor. I've seen numerous threads since complaining about who else could have done more justice to the character and that really downs me. Anyhow, there is a few love-making scenes and hedonism is kept alive. I also found it very slyly humoros how a failed writer, a failed professional with little discipline in his life advocates and professes beleifs and quotes. You'll know once you watch this film. If you like this film, you might like, "Sideways" , "Love Liza" , "American Splendor" and "Hollywoodland" - Also vice versa. Kudos to Matt Dillon. This, in my unwanted opinion, is his best performance till date.

Waste of time
Since the greatest crime one could commit (according to Bukowski) was to waste his freaking time, this film is something of a curse. It's pretty lousy film making. If you're going to make a book out of something like FACTOTUM, you should at least be able to create something far more effective than this. While Dillon was really, really good in his portrayal of Bukowski, the rest of the movie is something of a train wreck. You never know where you're standing if you're unfamiliar with Buk's writing, and one feels completely let down if you are an admirer of the vast spread of Charles Bukowski's stories, novels, essay, and poems. Don't waste your time. There are plenty of better things to read and view.