Oh, the ignomy! I seem to remember reading something last year about Factotum being released and the next time I come across it is in the bargain bin at Blockbusters!
Matt Dillon takes the lead role as Henry Chinaski - the literary alter-ego of the great writer Charles Bukowski - in this episodic series of scenes from Bukowski's semi-autobiographical works about his struggles to become a published author while battling with the demon drink, gambling, women problems, poverty and an inability to hold down a job.
This isn't the first big screen adaptation of Bukowski's life and work, but his streetlevel lifestyle was better captured in 1987's Barfly - with Mickey Rourke taking the Chinaski role - if for no other reason than Rourke looks like he's lived "the life" while Matt Dillon, no matter how great an actor he is, still looks too handsome to have endured the hardships described.
And that's really the main problem with this gently ambling, European arthouse-paced flick: Chinaski/Bukowski's zero responsibility lifestyle almost looks appealing; there is no lasting sense of the suffering or "going without" that are key factors in Bukowski's tales.
The DVD also included a strange, sepia-tinted short film based on a Bukowski poem about going to the dentist. And like Matt Dillon's voiceover in the main feature, this is peppered with Bukowski's great imagery and turns of phrase, but neither can beat cracking open one of his books.
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