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Plot:
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 Rour...( read more 
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Recent Reviews
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MCT:June 14, 2008This was as raw as can be - even more so because Rourke spends the entire movie intoxicated. I really don't know what to say about it, it's something you have to truly feel to appreciate.
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MCT:April 30, 2008
One of Mickey Rourke's finest performances, The thing I really love about this movie is that it doesn't try to tell you everything about Henry Chinaski and just shows you this time in his life and after it's finished you can just go back to what you were doing before.
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MCT:February 11, 2008A much more fun film about an alcoholic, Mickey Rourke was flawless and a lot of the drunken incidents were very amusing. Could have been much longer though.
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MCT:January 2, 2008
very deep, sometimes outhere, fun viewing expirience, makes you think about what happiness really means to different people. that is what i got out of it... i might be wrong. but quotable film none the less!
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MCT:November 13, 2007
Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway both give exceptional performances in this well written comedy/drama that was inspired by the life and writings of famed author/poet Charles Bukowski (who actually scripted this film). While I must admit that I have never read any of Bukowski's work but that didn't stop me from enjoying this film. The supporting cast, the direction and the script are equally first rate. If you are fan of Bukowski's work or if your not, this is wroth checking out.
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MCT:October 26, 2007I love Bukowski, love him. But I am at total odds with this movie. Can I see a bit of him in it? Of course, he wrote it. But it just doesn't feel like him. If you have read his stuff you know what I am talking about. There is a certain dirty desperation you know Henry just has, however it is nowhere to be found in this movie.
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MCT:August 22, 2007
After watching Factotum, I feel it necessary to review this movie. It is absolutely fantastic. Admittedly, Rourke plays Bukowski over-the-top, but that works for this movie in a way I've never seen in film. The mood and atmosphere are spot on for this film and I highly recommend this for every surly assh*le I ever meet.
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MCT:July 14, 2007
Mickey Rourke gives the ultimaet portrayal of a drunken loser. Funny enough its based on a real person.
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MCT:May 6, 2007
Mickey Rourke plays Henry Chinaski, a poet and alcoholic. He spends his life in bars in Los Angeles, drinking every night
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MCT:April 11, 2007
The greatest movie ever made, Rourke and Dunaway give spectacular insight into the life of Henry Chinaski...a funny look into the life of a drunken bum trying to make it as a writer. I LOVE THIS MOVIE!
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MCT:March 28, 2007
Really liked this movie. Mickey Roorke plays a Drunk, who is at the bottom of the barrel and goes around fighting people. He is also a poet and\or writer who is being seeked by a Litature Magazine.
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MCT:March 10, 2007
Disappointing, to say the least. I had never even heard of this movie, until it was covered in the documentary Bukowski: Born Into This - you see this script was apparently written by American literary legend, Charles Bukowski, in the later stages of his life (he has a brief cameo in the film). What it mentioned in the documentary was that Bukowski and his wife were quite disappointed in how the film turned out, and I can see why now. The script was written about his alter-ego, Henry Chinaski, who was the protagonist of much of his work in poetry & prose. Chinaski is basically a different version of himself, and as such, Rourke is essentially playing Charles Bukowski, and he fails in this respect. Rourke's performance is a somewhat over-the-top caricature. The script is great but Rourke's delivery saps a lot of meaning out of most of the material, leaving us with a vacuous dark comedy. I think a lot of that is also due to the director, Barbet Schroeder, though - he really doesn't show much respect for the material, and the fact that most of this would have come from Bukowski's actual life. He puts his own spin on it, but it really spins out of control and becomes something that, while watchable, you get the sense was meant to be an entirely different monster. Even Faye Dunaway, who I usually love, doesn't add much to the proceedings. It's an okay film, but I can't really recommend it. In the end it just made me want a drink.
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MCT:February 12, 2007
Nothing beats the prose of Bukowski, especially when it's done by Mickey Rourke, the best drunk you'll ever see.
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MCT:February 7, 2007
I can't explain how a movie with no real plot could be so interesting. Bukowski is just that great.
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MCT:February 7, 2007
I had wanted to see this film for years and was chuffed to bits to finally get a copy (the DVD is very rare especially in Europe) from ebay. It is very different; there isn't a plot per se, the viewer simply follows genius poet/resolute alcoholic Henry (semi-autobiographically based on scriptwriter Charles Bukowski's own life) as he stumbles from one day to the next. For its perculiarity though I found it quirkily entertaining, watching a man of obvious intelligence and with a profound understanding of humanity shunning things which are supposed to be valued in the westen world in favour of doing exactly what he wants to do, which in this case is drink and occasionally write. As Henry says, "anyone can be a non-drunk, it takes endurance to be a drunk."
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MCT:January 31, 2007
An all-time favourite...probably because I can relate to ALL characters in this movie (and I'm not ashamed). Written by Bukoski, Barfly takes a peek into the life of yet another drunken, self obsesse write played by Mickey Roarke. Faye Dunaway co-stars and is fabulous as well.
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MCT:December 25, 2006
Thought provoking. I do not know why I watch this movie every few years, but I do. It sparks a part of my brain that tries to work out behavior that I do not understand.
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MCT:June 20, 2006
Something about Bukowski's gift to skip coherence and go straight for the heart makes him a strangely appealing source of humanism - the last place in the world you would think to locate any sense of "reason" or "triumph".
None the less, the two lushes of this pathetic drama are so well developed and familiar that we fall for them anyways.
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MCT:June 10, 2006
"My name's Billy Blake!" Hank screams in the hallway of the halfway house. How's that for alliteration? If you haven't read Bukowski, this may be a good introduction although the movie is relatively tame compared to stuff on paper. Post Office is highly recommended.
Bukowski actually wrote a novel about the creation of the movie called Hollywood, and demonstrates that it was amazing the film ever got made.
Like most of his work, Bukowski put himself within the dredges of society, although he was (is?) a poetic genius, to observe and participate at what he thought was the core of humanity since he thought it could be easily observed in this condition. A disciple of Schopenhauer for sure.
I believe Bukowski described the events of the movie as two weeks in his life condensed into a few days. -
MCT:May 30, 2006
Mickey Rourke is a back-alley fighting drunk whose writings are discovered by a major literary magazine.
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