Factotum (2005)

I actually watched this film a fews days ago, before many of the others posted, but I forgot, as the film in general made little impression on me. Based on a few works of down-and-out, alcoholic writer, Charles Bukowski, the film tells the story of down-and-out, alcoholic writer, Henry Chinaski, who struggles to hold down a job and get his short stories accepted. Into his life comes Jan, similarly alcoholic, whilst at various other times he rubs up against those represeting the estasblishment (ie. anyone with a conventional lifestyle) and finds camraderie with other down-and outs.

The main problem with the film is that there is no progression to the story, nothing every really changes or develops further. The plot is seperated into various little vignettes, maybe a result of the script containing various elements of Bukowski's work rather than taking from a single source. This means each scene can almost stand alone, whilst Chinaski's character stays stuck in his rut. Even if he leaves Jan for an extended period, he still gets back with her, and when he leaves her again it doesn't feel any different to when he was with her. He still can't get a job he wants to do and even though one of his stories has been accepted, he doesn't know anything about it.

Matt Dillon's monotonous narrative does little to help the mood. Chinaski's unwillingness to engage with the world makes it very hard for us to engage with him and ultimately he's just a bit irritating and frustrating. He gets so many chances to make some money and sort himself out that eventually we lose sympathy for his self-destructive nature. This isn't a portrait of the struggling artist on the outside of society, but rather a bum who can write when he wants. Perhaps the film should be praised for the realistic, unromantic portrayal of Bukowski/Chinaski's struggle but it's just not interesting.

A better, more original film on Bukowski is Marco Ferreri's 'Tales of Ordinary Madness' with Ben Gazarra as a much more engaging lead and an interesting, surreal take on his life. Neither film is that good really, maybe a reflection of Bukowski, who I've never actually read. My advice would be to avoid both films and read a book. If you don't like Bukowski, try Henry Miller - he's amazing.