Gripping story with well-crafted characters

good back-story, and good acting

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

So I was watching the movie and saw a lot of little inconsistencies that would've made Hank turn in his grave. The first inconstancy was the actor himself. He reminded me almost nothing of Charles. He's too young, too tall, too confident with his appearance -- always groomed and resembled no stress or anything that would indicate he's Charles. Hell, if you didn't tell me this movie was based on Factotum, I would've believed it was some sort of Actor going through a rough patch. The people at the race track cheered for Hank and his friend, the "old man" at the race track who took their seats died. I can go on all day. It's kind of sad that they went ahead and threw their stupid spins on it. If you're gonna do it, do it right. Don't FKING add your stupid BS Hollywood spins onto it and think it's Good.

First off, let me tell you...this movie is funny. It is a dark comedy, so the humor was expected to be witty, and it delivered. Matt Dillon plays this role superbly - with some great one liners I might add. I was never a fan of his until this movie. The role is perfect for him.Had never heard of Bent Hamer until this movie, but I like his style of directing and he is very good at timing.Character development was OK, however I would have liked to have seen a bit more plot. That area made this film a tad forgettable.I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone who has a dry, witty sense of humor, it made me laugh out loud a few times, which I rarely do by myself at home. :)

Many reviewers say they didn't "get" the movie or that it wasn't about anything. I felt the same way until I realized maybe that's the point. This film addresses the question, What is success? Is success only what our society defines success as? Or can success really be something else altogether? Something of our own making.If I had known it was about Charles Bukowski when I was watching it, I might have appreciated it a little more. I'm a fan of his blunt way of writing. Bukowski was primarily a poet and he had a terrible childhood, which obviously affected his entire life and worldview.Definitely not a film for the suicidal or depressed or alcoholic. By the end I needed a stiff drink and a bottle of sleeping pills.

A boring movie about a miserable loser...that's Factotum in a nutshell. Matt Dillon plays Henry Chinaski, alter ego of author Charles Bukowski upon whose novel the film is based. As we meet Chinaski he may be a writer but he's certainly not a successful one. He floats through life, getting fired from one menial job after another and not caring a bit. The fact that he's always drunk may have something to do with his not caring. He meets a woman, Jan, played by Lili Taylor and a relationship ensues. Chinaski moves into Jan's apartment and now instead of getting drunk by himself he can get drunk with somebody else. Good times. Eventually he's had enough of this relationship so Chinaski strikes out on his own. Unfortunately he still can't hold down a job so soon enough he's broke. At this point Marisa Tomei shows up and for some reason her character, Laura, decides to rescue this miserable drunken loser whom she doesn't even know. We soon meet some of Laura's acquaintances and the film veers off into a sort of bizarro world with this rather eclectic bunch. Soon enough Tomei and friends are out of the picture and once again we're left with Chinaski and his drinking and his miserable little life. There's some more time spent with Jan but mostly there's just time spent being a drunk, unemployable loser. And then the movie's over and not a moment too soon. 94 minutes of absolute monotony and it seems infinitely longer as the movie drags on. Nothing happens. Nothing ever happens. If you want to spend an hour and a half of your life watching Matt Dillon drink then this is the movie for you. If you're looking for a compelling story, well developed characters or any entertainment value whatsoever then you've come to the wrong place. Dillon's performance actually isn't bad at all. Too bad the movie which surrounds him is in fact rather bad.