Factotum [DVD]

The best thing about this downbeat movie is Matt Dillon's performance, which is perfectly pitched and marks a career high. He carries what is a slim tale with his shuffling, mumbling portrayal of the drunken aspiring writer. It's funny, sharp, and intelligent, but also, frankly, a bit depressing and sometimes dull. Given that this is based on a semi-autobiographical novel by Charles Bukowski we don't really learn as much about the writer as we might. We see his alter-ego lurch from one hangover to another, from one job to another, and from one woman to another but that's about it. The extracts from the writer's work that punctuate these motions only serve to tantalise. But perhaps that's a good thing, if it makes the viewer want to read Bukowski's work.

Having been introduced to the excellent Charles Bukowski and his simple yet masterful works of semi-autobiographical novels (the brilliant Post Office, Factotum and Ham on Rye to name a few) through a friend of mine, I decided that this film, the screen version of his second novel (together with a selection of events from short stories added in to the mix), was at least worthy of a viewing.

To its credit, the film (following the down-and-out Henry Chinaski as he drinks and gambles his way from one job to the next) was interesting enough to warrant sitting through to the end and this is largely due to the source material. I must say, in places, the humour was portrayed correctly thanks to a believable performance from Matt Dillon, who captured the essence of Chinaski pretty well but the rest of the supporting characters (Chinaski's bosses aside) did not fare too well. A film company from Norway produced the film and the extras are all unfamiliar to me, and the lack in experience shows through in many of the scenes which ruins my perception of Bukowski's classic.

I was also somewhat disappointed that the film was set in modern day and thought it would have fared better had it been depicted in the actual time period Bukowski wrote the novel. Ultimately, this changes a lot of the perspectives in the film given the difference in values throughout the generations. My friend rightly points out that had the setting been post-war America, as in the book, the authenticity would have been there, and perhaps it would have retained the zeitgeist feel of the era in which it was based.

Another disappointment arrives in the form of the material presented on screen or rather, lack thereof. Essentially, a lot of great scenes from Factotum were either relegated to the "deleted scenes" bin or didn't even make the original script. This is unfortunate as some of Bukowski's most hilarious scenes have been wasted - a fight with an older, crazy janitor at the Times, Chinaski's time in New York and the taxi cab boss who has Chinaski and co racing down LA River to name a few. The producers also felt that some scenes deserved to be shorter; Chinaski's time at the art supply shop was rushed and poorly done, the dream of Chinaski pushing the rich guy through the gaps at the race course was turned into a non-dream where Chinaski just punches the arrogant fellow and the film's conclusion was edited unnecessarily in comparison with the novel's ending.

Finally, Bukowski's novels (Pulp aside) all have little to no semblance of a plot. In written narrative, this works surprisingly well but, expectedly, it doesn't have the same affect on screen and comes across as an art film to some degree, which some may find boring given the lack of any real conclusion.

Whilst the film was ultimately disappointing and was somewhat wasted, it was interesting to watch the film for Dillon's performance and, if you consider yourself a Bukowski fan, its worthy of viewing, if only once.

2 / 5

Turning a book into a film is always a tricky process and Factotum is no different with alot from the actual story missing from this movie.

However Matt Dillon puts in a great performance as hard drinking Chinaski who would rather be drunk than have a job.
Like the book theres plenty of comedy value as Chinaski gets hired and fired at the drop of a hat. My only criticism would be that if the film was to be made again the whole book got covered.