This drama centers on Hank Chinaski, the fictional alter-ego of "Factotum" author Charles Bukowski, who wanders around Los Angeles, CA trying to live off jobs which don't interfere with his primary interest, which is writing. Along the way, he fends off the distractions offered by women, drinking and gambling.
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.
– Amy Biancolli,
Houston Chronicle,
15 Sep 2006
fresh:
Factotum is right up there with Barfly as a distillation of Bukowskian badinage, despite the current film's sketchier provenance.
– Andrew Sarris,
New York Observer,
20 Sep 2006
fresh:
This is one of the best movies of the year, and one of the two or three best performances.
– Roger Moore,
Orlando Sentinel,
22 Sep 2006
rotten:
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.
– Peter Howell,
Toronto Star,
1 Dec 2006
rotten:
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.