By Tim Lee

By Tim LeeSTAFF WRITER

As a writer, Charles Bukowski was arguably one of the most alternately despised and revered characters of the 20th century. His works commonly centered on the working class man and his struggles with women, alcohol and society. Bukowski wrote with a paradoxically raw yet tender voice, a voice, or more accurately an atmosphere, that is captured in the Bent Hamer adaptation of his novel Factotum.Factotum is the story of a writer, Henry Chinaski (Matt Dillon) and is loosely based on the Bukwoski’s own experiences with employment, women and rejection. Specifically, Factotum revolves around the troubled love affair between Chinaski and his girlfriend Jan, played by Lily Taylor, as they try to make their way out of the bars and slums of skid row. Hamer perfectly captures the tone and essence of the relationship between them. He captures Chinaski as the contradiction that Bukowski meant him to be, a working class hero, who doesn’t work and is more a villain than a hero.Matt Dillon turns in a stellar performance as Chinaski. The one true criticism of Dillon in this role is that he is playing the main character as more an extension of Bukowski himself than as the character that he wrote for the novel. However, he does so with such brilliance that this minor detail is outshone. Taylor is haunting as the fragile and troubled Jan. The overall casting in Factotum proves to be fairly flawless, with each actor perfectly fitting the role in which they were cast. The resulting effect is a movie that reflects well upon the novel on which it was based. The movie occasionally strays from the urgent, frantic feeling of the novel and as a result tends to drag at points. Hamer exhibits a decent knack for shooting a film but often leaves the camera lingering too long on the scenery – which draws away from the story – but Dillon is so magnetic in the role that the viewer is always pulled back. Factotum was made with the full support and cooperation of Bukowski’s widow and daughter. That said, no one will know if Bukowski truly would have approved of this adaptation of his novel on the silver screen. It would be impossible to imagine a more genuine interpretation being made in this era, as Hamer displays a true love for the subject matter. Factotum does two things very well. It brings life back to a novel which certainly still rings true 30 years after it was originally published. It also shows the diversity of Matt Dillon as an actor and begs other directors and filmmakers to use this diversity before he fades away. Factotum is one of the better movies of the year and should be a must-see on everyone’s list.