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Factotum (2005)

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Top Critics

Average Rating: 6.8/10
Reviews Counted: 112
Fresh: 84 | Rotten: 28

Matt Dillon's performance is the highlight of this somewhat slow but fascinating portrayal of Charles Bukowski's alter-ego.

Average Rating: 6.5/10
Critic Reviews: 30
Fresh: 18 | Rotten: 12

Matt Dillon's performance is the highlight of this somewhat slow but fascinating portrayal of Charles Bukowski's alter-ego.

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Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 18,844

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Movie Info

Norwegian director Bent Hamer follows up his quirky and critically acclaimed Kitchen Stories with a heartbreakingly humorous look at the life of depressive writer Hank Chinaski -- the fictional counterpart of real-life author Charles Bukowski. Adapted from Bukowski's 1975 novel of the same name, Hamer's film follows the perpetually unemployed, alcohol-swilling Chinaski (Matt Dillon) as he drifts through the city streets in search of a job that won't come between him and his first love, writing.

R, 1 hr. 34 min.

Drama, Art House & International, Comedy

Directed By: Bent Hamer

Written By: Charles Bukowski, Bent Hamer, Jim Stark

In Theaters: Aug 18, 2006 Limited

On DVD: Dec 26, 2006

Box Office:$0.6M

IFC Films

Factotum Trailer & Photos

More Photos (6)

Cast

Critic Reviews for Factotum

All Critics (112) | Top Critics (30) | Fresh (85) | Rotten (28) | DVD (11)

The transplant didn't take in Barfly, and it works no better here in Factotum. In each case, the baying of the boozehounds just seems repetitious and banal -- the noise endures but the joy is gone.

December 1, 2006 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail

| Comment

Rick Groen

Globe and Mail

Top Critic

Quite dull, truth be told. As good as Dillon and Taylor are in their roles, making us side with them even as we despise them, there's not a whole lot that happens in a life ruled by the bottle, the butt and the shag.

December 1, 2006 Full Review Source: Toronto Star

| Comment

Peter Howell

Toronto Star

Top Critic

This is one of the best movies of the year, and one of the two or three best performances.

September 22, 2006 Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel

| Comment

Roger Moore

Orlando Sentinel

Top Critic

Factotum is right up there with Barfly as a distillation of Bukowskian badinage, despite the current film's sketchier provenance.

September 20, 2006 Full Review Source: New York Observer

| Comment

Andrew Sarris

New York Observer

Top Critic

Dillon is better now that he's settled into sturdy middle age. He makes more sense; I never got him as a Tiger Beat centerfold.

September 15, 2006 Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle

| Comment

Amy Biancolli

Houston Chronicle

Top Critic

I just didn't think the comic touches were very subtle and very funny and the other stuff we've just seen before.

September 5, 2006 Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper

| Comment

Richard Roeper

Ebert & Roeper

Top Critic

Factotum is an existentialist indie film about the loneliness of the human condition, which is normally the cinematic equivalent of having a hole drilled in your head.

March 22, 2011 Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net

| Comment

Joshua Starnes

ComingSoon.net

An understated and atmospheric portrait of the artist as a young booze-hound built around a quiet but magnetic performance by Matt Dillon.

August 20, 2010 Full Review Source: Film4

| Comment

Film4

Minimalism-a-thon, numb from the very start

August 30, 2009 Full Review Source: CinePassion

| Comment

Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

Dillon is an utterly excellent actor without ego.

April 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed

| Comment

Felix Vasquez Jr.

Cinema Crazed

The entire production hangs on Dillon, but he's up to the task, serving up Hank's heart with bottom-of-the-barrel bravado.

April 23, 2009 Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix

| Comment

Tom Meek

Boston Phoenix

Norwegian director Bent Hamer ("Kitchen Stories") mines the rich literary soil of poet/novelist Charles Bukowski to issue forth a piquant cinematic showcase for Bukowski's talent and malaise.

April 20, 2009 Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com

| Comment

Cole Smithey

ColeSmithey.com

Wryly funny and understated and surprisingly easy to watch.

August 7, 2008 Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review

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Jonathan Kiefer

Sacramento News & Review

Will not please devotees of narrative closure, but it's a must for anyone who lives by our hero's credo: 'If you're going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don't try at all.'

February 1, 2008 Full Review Source: Cinematical

| Comment

Karina Longworth

Cinematical

Unfortunately -- like its lead character -- the film doesn't do much more than drift from one scene to another.

July 14, 2007 Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound

| Comment

Joe Lozito

Big Picture Big Sound

This portrait of an artist as a young sot reels and swaggers towards some kind of redemptive conclusion but, in a truly bold move on the part of the filmmakers, never quite gets there.

July 6, 2007 Full Review Source: Eye for Film

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Anton Bitel

Eye for Film

The film unfolds at a leisurely pace and takes the form of a series of incidents and anecdotes, which works surprisingly well.

June 21, 2007 Full Review Source: ViewLondon

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Matthew Turner

ViewLondon

Factotum isn't for everybody, certainly not the abstentious. But there's no denying it, Chinaski appeals to our inner anarchist.

February 22, 2007 Full Review Source: Film Journal International

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Rex Roberts

Film Journal International

Dillon delivers with a cocky denseness that is at once hilarious and poignant...

January 12, 2007 Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher

| Comment

MaryAnn Johanson

Flick Filosopher

Bleak-ish, inebriated and quite exhilarating in the full-on Bukowski fashion.

December 1, 2006 Full Review Source: Jam! Movies

| Comment

Liz Braun

Jam! Movies

It's not a great film but it might seem great because it does justice to the life force of an exceptional man who had something to say about not being mediocre.

November 4, 2006 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews

| Comment

Dennis Schwartz

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

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Audience Reviews for Factotum

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Deadbeat wannabe writer Henry Chinaski drifts from dead end job to dead end job while trying to hone his craft and find his next drink. Based on a hotch-potch of the works of cult literary figure Charles Bukowski, Factotum is a fair cinematic representation of his work; you get a few chuckles over his reckless abandon

May 19, 2007

xGary Xx

Super Reviewer

At no point should you mistake this movie for being good. It is, in fact, a bad movie. It has a ton of inconsistencies and you rarely see 'Chinaski' honing his writing craft. That said, it has a few amusing moments, some decent acting, and it features a topless Marissa Tomei, which allows it to reclaim an additional star.

July 13, 2010

Ping Chu

Super Reviewer

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