Factotum is a rambling, episodic, mock-biography of barfly and author Charles Bukowski, anchored by a fine,
square-jawed lead performance from Matt Dillon, who between this and
Crash has located a better use of his talent in playing louts and
fringe-dwellers. Watching the film — which is actually quite funny at times, despite its darkness
— you get a palpable sense of how Dillon’s character’s acting out (and thus Bukowski’s as well) stems from his racing, perpetually dissatisfied inner monologue, and how his
general disagreeableness is hardwired
to an irreconcilable urgency to locate in both life and his art the same sort of
forward-leaning insistence he feels in his soul. A 28-minute look at the making of the movie and filmmaker Bent Hamer’s other works anchors the supplemental slate. For the full DVD review, from IGN, click here.
