After the Factotum

Matt Dillon sure can act, still.

Lili Taylor can still sure act.

Marisa Tomei still can sure act.

Factotum is filled with great acting.

The movie is disturbing. This is mostly due to the subject matter. Alcoholism, simply indulged in, is about as interesting as a car wreck. Chinaski, presented as a self-destructive human being, yet success obsessed writer, is quite a famous character from the Bukowski books. And everyone has a certain love for the wild man who is true to his passion. So this could be enough...

Of course, one could make a case for Chinaski as the ultimate expression of mid-century Americana and not just the stand in for a drunk author. It was an interesting time. Our culture needed to have everything exposed. It took World War II to jar Americans into examining excessive traits and/or marginal characters in the culture. So, Chinaski might not be just a solipsistic construction, but even more, an un-American-yet-so-American Everyman.

But I think he was just Bukowski being really truthful about himself.

Which is just better all the way around.

But this movie is laid out flat and that’s its best and worst thing. I mean, watching the morning puking scene where Matt and Lili take turns hobbling to the toilet to throw up is priceless. And there are moments of stillness, played brilliantly by Matt Dillon, that are truly breathtaking. So, it’s worth it to witness this. But ultimately, even though Chinaski triumphs in the end (without even knowing), as an audience member, you just end up feeling so unsettled and horrible.

Oh wait. That was the point for Bukowski and for the movie. What a movie. Do yourself in: Go see this incredibly well done movie. Feel bad about how bad life can be. And feel bad that your life is not even as bad and that you are not as interesting or successful as Chinaski-Bukowski.