The Bottom Line
- Film is generally upbeat, yet it captures the spirit of Bukowski
- Matt Dillon gives a superb performance in the lead, and Lili Taylor is good in a supporting role
- Movie is unusual, mostly avoiding Hollywood and Sundance clichés
- Story is character-driven and doesn't have much narrative drive
- Bukowski purists may object to movie changing the novel's setting
- The film deserved more and better DVD bonus materials
Description
- DVD containing offbeat English-language character study Factotum (2005)
- Movie adapted from 1975 novel by American poet, novelist and cult figure Charles Bukowski
- Matt Dillon (Crash) gives a splendid performance as Factotum's central character
- Other actors include Lili Taylor (Six Feet Under) and Marisa Tomei (My Cousin Vinny)
- Film cowritten and directed by Norwegian-born Bent Hamer (Kitchen Stories)
- DVD contains a 30-min. profile of Hamer made for Norwegian TV
- MPAA rating: R for language and sexual content
- Feature film run time: 1 hour 34 minutes
- DVD release date: December 26, 2006
Guide Review - Factotum DVD
One of the most unusual movies of recent years, Factotum avoids Hollywood and Sundance clichés. This low-keyed, wry film not only made me laugh out loud, it moved me. In the movie, Norwegian-born filmmaker Bent Hamer captures the spirit of American poet, novelist and counterculture figure Charles Bukowski. And Matt Dillon, Oscar-nominated for his role as the racist cop in Crash, gives a splendid performance as Factotum's central character.
In his semiautobiographical 1975 novel Factotum, Bukowski has his fictional alter ego, Henry "Hank" Chinaski, take a string of odd jobs while he writes stories and tries to get them published. Hank enjoys having women in his life, but two of his activities take priority over everything: writing and drinking. In portraying Hank in the film, Dillon's facial expressions, body movements and line deliveries evoke old footage of Bukowski, and the result is an unforgettable movie character. Playing two of Hank's girlfriends are Lili Taylor (of TV's Six Feet Under) and Marisa Tomei (an Oscar winner for My Cousin Vinny).
Bukowski's writing goes over well in northern Europe, and Hamer, a Norwegian, has the right sensibility to adapt it to the screen. The filmmaker paid attention to the spoken word in his movie, bringing in not only lines from the novel Factotum, but also from Bukowski's poems and journals. But Hamer made changes as he saw fit. For example, Bukowski's novel takes place mostly in L.A. circa 1945, but Hamer moved the setting to a generic American city circa 2004, and he shot in and around Minneapolis.
The DVD comes with only one extra of any consequence, namely a half-hour profile of Hamer made for Norwegian TV. The program mainly looks back at his 2003 film Kitchen Stories and shows him in the process of making Factotum. A movie of this caliber deserves more and better bonus materials.
