Barfly (1987)

Director: Barbet Schroeder

Writer: Charles Bukowski

Stars: Mickey Rourke, Faye Dunaway, Alice Krige, Jack Nance, J.C. Quinn, Frank Stallone, Sandy Martin, Roberta Bassin, Gloria LeRoy

Henry Chinaski (Mickey Rourke) is a thinly disguised stand-in for screenwriter Charles Bukowski. 

He is a confirmed drunk with no inclination to be anything else; he is so contemptuous of society and most of the human race that he has simply decided to opt out of it altogether and wile away his years drinking and writing.

 

His convictions are tested when a beautiful young magazine editor (Alice Krige) arrives to purchase one of his stories.

 

She sees him as a brilliant, primitive talent and attempts to "save" him by offering money, luxury, and herself. 

Will he accept what most of us would consider a golden once-in-a-lifetime opportunity or will he return to his world of dives and his equally dissipated girlfriend, Wanda (Faye Dunaway)?

 

I won't give it away, but if you know Bukowski, then you already know how this will turn out.

 

Rourke and Dunaway do some of their finest work here, and the film drips with atmosphere, having been filmed on location in some of the actual seedy bars where Bukowski drank.

 

An excellent look at a segment of society that we usually try not to think about very much.