2/5 Bukowski/Chinaski was not a Doofus...
  by inframan (the lower depths)
...which is how Dillon plays him, too bad. Aki Kaurasmaki should have made this film. He has the deadpan flat defeatist humor that would fit with the material & he definitely has the right actors. Dillon's OK in decent Hollywood fare, but he's never tasted the gutter or drunk Thunderbird by the gallon. He just acts it & pretty lamely at that, too bad. There's just no grunge or human despair anywhere in this film, Lili Taylor & Marisa Tomei doing their hip chick routines, too bad.

I love Bukowski. I've read every book he wrote including the poems & I reread them regularly, he didn't deserve this. None of us do, too bad.

5/5 Hard Man; Gentle Vision
  by Theresa Williams (USA)
When you make a movie about a man who was as fiercely individualistic as Bukowski, you are bound to rub some of Bukowski's fans the wrong way. Each of us takes something different from the life and times of Bukowski. I have no doubt that many films will be made about Bukowski in the future; each will have its own vision. I've been reading Bukowski's work for more than twenty years and have always been drawn to the gentleness that I know exists within the hard man. So I loved this movie because it does touch, at times, on that gentleness. One aspect of Bukowski's nature that the film thankfully mentions is Bukowski's love of music: I wish the film could have brought that out more because I've always thought this was the keys to understanding the depth of this great writer. Music was Bukowski's sanctuary. However the film does an excellent job of portraying Bukowski's quest, which is not to be published, although every writer does seek that, but simply to live his own life and to write.

5/5 Life and art of Charles Bukowski
  by Reader (Boca Raton, FL)
It does not take one to be a Charles Bukowski reader to like this movie. I will be the first one to admit that I have not read any of his work, but since the movie "Barfly" I know just enough that Bukowski was a social misfit who has spent his life drinking hard and writing compulsively. This semi-biographical work of his life depicts him as a man who hops from one menial job to another to make just enough to pay the rent. He is a gambler with and eye for unconventional women. It is almost surreal kind of people wh meets in this way of life that serves him as a source of inspiration.

I loved Matt Dillon's and Lili Taylor's performances. Their characters are such that one cannot but think they truly deserve one another. There are many funny moments in the movie. This film is just wonderful story about the price a person can take in order to pursue thir true nature and happiness. In this case, our main character was a writer and no social convention was going to change that.

1/5 No wonder Bukowski hated movies
  by Charles E. Holland (Nashville, Tn)
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."

4/5 Factotum - True To The Spirit of Bukowski If Not The Letter - Deserves A Second Look
  by Mark (East Coast)
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.