Barfly

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Shawn R Mickey Rourke at his finest! Don't miss this one! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/02/25 Full Review William S Don’t forget at that corn baby, it’s green! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/21/24 Full Review Wayne K When you think of writers with a fondness for drugs, alcohol, insanity and self-destruction, you tend to think of Hunter S. Thompson, and with good reason. But Charles Bukowski is another author who very much embodied the live fast, die young ethos, despite shuffling off the mortal coin in his 70s. Barfly is his somewhat autobiographical account of bumming around seedy bars and dodgy areas of LA, drinking himself into a stupor, passing out somewhere, then waking up and doing it all again the next day. Mickey Rourke gives a fantastically detailed performance as Henry, Bukowski’s literary alter ego. He understands that it’s not just the line readings you need to get right to play a character; he really puts effort into the mannerisms as well. The voice, his cadence of speech, his odd pauses and even the way he walks and moves around. It’s a very complete character, and a highlight of the film. The whole thing looks dirty and dank, like the cinematographer was asked to capture the look and feel of an abandoned basement, and the dialogue has an authenticity to it that comes with having truly lived your work. Henry’s relationship with Faye Dunaway’s Wanda understandably bounces back and forth, as a pair of volatile characters who don’t really know what they want for themselves will of course have no idea what they want in another person. The film skirts pretty close to fantasy at times, and there are elements of it which I didn’t buy at all. Why does Tully, a wealthy and respectable publisher, allow Henry to drive her flash car around Los Angeles without a word of objection, and what makes her fall for him? It really smacks of wish fulfilment, but Henry’s reaction to the latter is poignant and in keeping with his character. It has an ambiguous ending that can be seen as depressing and pointless, but it emphasises the idea that many of us are trapped in a cycle that we created for ourselves, intentionally or otherwise. Not a perfect film, but a very enjoyable and heartfelt one. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 09/20/24 Full Review Chinu D It’s a really good movie Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/20/24 Full Review Adiya A This idea of ​​the film shooting technique director made the film more attractive to people. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/20/24 Full Review Bulgantamir B I really liked the talented actors Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/20/24 Full Review Read all reviews

Barfly

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