Rating: 
Summary: A Film That's A Poem
Review: Some folks who have seen "Barfly" like to pronounce the name as if it were an adverb. Director Barbet Schroeder's screen adaptation of a semi-autobiographical script by Charles Bukowski pulls no punches in portraying the seedy, skid-row existence of a grimy alcoholic (played by Mickey Rourke) who hides a poetic genius under his scuzzy exterior. Henry Chinaski doesn't write sweet, flowery poems. He writes gritty, raw poems, filled with the hunger of his impoverished, addicted existence. He stokes his fires with alcohol, starts quixotic battles, and then usually crawls home drunk and beaten. Rather than manipulate the audience's sympathies or try to come up with a pat, satisfying ending that provides a moral and an uplift, author Bukowski and director Schroder make Rourke's poet neither wholly tragic nor wholly heroic, neither genuinely likeable nor genuinely despicable. That's perhaps the best element of the film, because like much of Bukowski's work, it tries to paint an unvarnished picture of a human being, warts and all, without seeking to condemn or redeem. Like a good poem, the poet just *is*, and it is up to the reader/viewer to come to their own conclusions.
Rating: 
Summary: Love it or hate it
Review: You will either love or hate this film and either way it will be for a good reason. If you like dark and subtle comedy, enjoy a movie that takes some time to develop the characters, like irony, like acting that is good but doesn't call attention to itself, and if you have seen drunks before and are not shocked by them, then you will probably love this film. If you don't get the comedy, if you are disgusted by drunks, if you like fast moving pictures, if you looking for redeaming social value and if feel a film must have an obvious and direct point, then you will not like this film. Personally, I started out disliking it for all the reasons that others have said it is not worth seeing. Then about 1/4 of the way through, I got what the writer, actors and director were doing. I saw the irony, the undercurrents of social and personal satire, and the downright humor in it. I started laughing and enjoying myself, and I didn't stop laughing for the rest of the film. The degree of subtilty is greater than we are accustomed to in a Hollywood film, so alot of people not only don't get it but don't know there is anything to get because they are not expecting anything this subtle. The Director, Barbet Schroeder, cut his teeth working with director Eric Rohmer, who is as slow and subtle as they come. The now common phrase, "Watching paint dry," was unfairly coined by an unappreciative viewer to discribe his films. Schroeder is no where near as slow as Rohmer, but he seems to have learned how to build up elements of plot and character that open new dimensions in the film and suprise the attentive viewer in very pleasing ways. This is certainly true of Barfly. Aside from being funny it is also deep. If are looking for an action flic or light comedy, this is not for you. If you are looking for something to glance at while you are cooking dinner then this is the wrong movie. If you have the time and inclination to pay attention or you will be disappointed with it. It is not for everyone. Some people view film as only good for recreation and that is fine. But if you want to take the time to understand the subtly and humor of the film, you will probably enjoy it - a lot.
Rating:
Summary: 12 Steps is one step too Many. Pour me another...
Review: Gonzo poet, writer, rebel, wild man and veteran Barfly without peer Charles Bukowski cranked out the script and guerilla filmmaker Barbet Schroeder wielded the camera for this pungent, wicked, hysterical tale of Hell itself: it is nothing other than the Damned with Drinks and the Dive Bar as steaming Hellpit. It's also huge tanker truckloads of fun. Drink up, the rounds are on me!
Mickey Rourke, then at the height of his powers, plays Bukowski stand-in and poet-genius-drunkard Henry Chinaski, who would love to write fantastic world-famous poetry and become wildly wealthy and idle his days away listening to Handel and chumming on caviar---but you know, a man's gotta have a First Love, and Henry does: Lady Booze, and boy is Henry faithful. What they hey! It's much easier to head down to the local watering hole, you know, and have just one shot. Just one shot.
Just one, c'mon Man, you know?
Consequently Henry is witty, sharp, caustic, totally disgusting, lives in a rat & cockroach infested flophouse, has meandering chatter sessions and fumbled sleepwalker sex with fellow drunkard Wanda Wilcox (Faye Dunaway who looks all bleary-eyed and tilts that bottle back like a champ! You go, girl!), and passes out in his own urine.
Publisher Tully Sorenson (Alice Krige, at the height of her powers and still eleven years away from her role as Borg Queen) discovers Henry: she's shocked by his nastiness and, simultaneously, by his genius. She wants to publish his poems. She wants to throw a life preserver down to Henry, with which he can escape the big old wine-dark sea of Old Grand-Dad in which he swims.
Guess what happens? Yeah, that's right, have another drink.
Anyway, underrated genius Barbet Schroeder and Charles Bukowski make a kind of diabolic duo in turning out this rummy-headed little epic of mind-boggling personal destruction. I don't know about Barbet (though the guy must have been fortifying himself with whiskey when he shot the amazing documentary "General Idi Amin Dada", which if you haven't seen, you should---hell, make it a double feature with "Barfly"), but Bukowski, who drank his way around the world---from Nazi Germany to seedy back alley L.A. dive bars---over the course of his 74 years on the planet---knows himself and knows his Enemy. His expertise shows.
The dialogue is funny and rings true. And cinematographer Robert Muller is just too cool for school here: you can practically feel the grime and smell the stale sweet rank stench of sour whiskey and sweat. And hey!---Buk himself puts in an appearance as a bar patron. Hey there, is that glass empty?
The acting is all first-rate: Mickey Rourke completely owns this movie. Completely. He actually pulls it off: he makes the life of a half-crazed almost totally out of his mind teeth-grinding wild-man look glamorous. I bought it. Faye Dunaway carries off the role of her career. Krige looks like a sturdy, stoic tugboat hitched to the stern of a swiftly sinking Titanic. Frank Stallone shows up as the angry barman! Jack Nance (of "Twin Peaks" fame and loyal David Lynch stable actor) puts in an appearance as the tricky detective. The script is crisp and crackles and rocks and rolls: frankly, I think this one gives David Mamet a run for his money; see if you don't agree.
In the end, we get to laugh it up and share a round or two or three---um, or four---with people who are disintegrating before our eyes, albeit in the funniest, most completely honest way possible. Henry is totally right: "Anyone can be a non-drunk: it takes a special talent to be a drunk---it takes endurance." That much is true: Henry and Wanda's "life" is chewing them up. Why this is Hell, nor am I out of it. Drink up!
Rating:
Summary: Mickey Rourke's Best Work
Review: I am not a big fan of Mickey Rourke. He is definitely a compelling actor, but somehow he has managed to be part of some of the most tasteless movies. This one, however, is a big surprise to me. His work in this movie is at the same level as Jack Nicholson's and Robert DeNiro's in their best performances. I don't know what happened to him. How does a guy go from this to Wild Orchid?
Rating:
Summary: Ooooh, beautiful!
Review: Very few movies can seriously out-do Barfly for sheer abundance of classic one-liners. If you're an admirer of smack in the face, a-hole humor, then this is definetely the movie for you my friend. Wanda: "I hate people, don't you hate people?"
Henry: "No, I just seem to feel alot better when they're not around." Henry: "When your mother's crying at the funeral, I'm gonna goose her with a turkey neck." Eddie: "You got lucky last night, I had the flu."
Henry: "What's it gonna be next time, the AIDS?" Henry: "Here, keep the change! Go buy yourself some shewing gum! Now get to trottin'! My friends are thirsty!" Henry: "Your mother's c**t stinks like (sniff) carpet cleaner."
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