'Factotum' has an absurdist, almost whimsical touch
by Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
"Factotum" follows the booze-soaked low-life adventures — if you can call them that — of Henry Chinaski (Matt Dillon), aka the fictional alter-ego of gutter-romantic writer Charles Bukowski. Henry's true calling is that of barfly extraordinaire, with a little womanizing and writing on the side. But that doesn't pay the rent, so he finds himself cruising through — and getting fired from — a steady stream of menial jobs. Pickle factory employee. Statue cleaner. Taxi driver. Brake shoe sorter.
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Henry Chinaski considers himself a writer; mostly he quests for booze and women. When he falls for Jan, the match fails to save either from their self-destructive ways, and the relationship totters between earnest connection and reflective loathing.
IFC Films
'Factotum'
Director: Bent Hamer
Starring: Matt Dillon, Marisa Tomei, Lili Taylor, Didier Flamand, Karen Young
Run time: 94 minutes
Release date: August 18, 2006
Rating: R for language and sexual content.
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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: B
"Continuing the career comeback that started with his Oscar-nominated performance in 'Crash,' Matt Dillon gives Henry a kind of happy-hour dignity and calm that every once in a while bursts forth into ugly, unexpected violence."
The Palm Beach Post: B
"There is a defiant matter-of-fact quality to (Matt Dillon's) performance that impresses."
The Associated Press: D+
"It's one thing to read about a degenerate life in poetic language; it's another to watch such a life play out in explicit imagery."
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