Classic Movie Review Barfly

Barfly (1987) 

Directed by Barbet Schroeder 

Written by Charles Bukowski 

Starring Mickey Rourke, Faye Dunaway, Alice Krige 

Release Date October 16th, 1987

Charles Bukowski’s writing transcends experience. Something about his words can penetrate all life experience. I’ve never been through the gutters that Bukowski frequented, I’ve never even had a drink of alcohol, but there is something so powerful, visceral, and evocative in Bukowski’s skid row poetry, it’s hard not to be moved or have your stomach turned or to smile and not even know why. Bukowski’s naturalism, his vivid realities, speak to human experiences in the most unique ways.

That said, Bukowski’s prose was never thought to be a natural for the big screen. And yet, here we are with Barfly turning 30 years old this weekend. Bukowski wrote the screenplay at the behest of director Barbet Schroder who promised direct the film exactly as Bukowski wrote. It took nearly a decade and the insane producers Menachem Golan and Yoram Globus to make it happen, but Schroder lived up to his promise. Barfly is fully and completely a product of Bukowski.

Mickey Rourke stars in Barfly as Henry Cisnaski, a Bukowski stand in. Henry is a drunk and a bum, but he has the soul of Bukowski. Henry is a writer when the moment strikes him. In the midst of another endless bender, Henry is occasionally inspired and writes short stories that in moments of clarity he sends to publishers. One such publisher is on Henry’s trail throughout Barfly with the help of a detective but that isn’t the story of Barfly.

What story there is in these non-traditional narrative centers on Henry’s relationship with a fellow drunk named Wanda (Faye Dunaway). The two meet in a bar, naturally, and share drunken hard luck stories before she takes advantage of a friend to buy more booze for the two of them. She brings Henry to her apartment, only slightly better than his hovel and invites him to stay but with the warning that she would likely go home one night with a man who could afford booze.

Find my full length review in the Geeks Community on Vocal

Movie Review Rules of Attraction

Rules of Attraction (2002) 

Directed by Roger Avary 

Written by Roger Avary

Starring James Van Der Beek, Shannyn Sossamon, Kip Pardue, Jessica Biel, Kate Bosworth, Ian Somerhalder, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Faye Dunaway

Release Date October 11th, 2002 

Published October 11th, 2002 

From the twisted mind of Bret Easton Ellis comes The Rules of Attraction, a dyspeptic look at college life that is as bleak as Van Wilder was ridiculous. Ellis was the mind behind American Psycho, which became a movie starring Christian Bale. Not surprisingly the movie was a pale imitation of the book, but then to truly adapt American Psycho for the screen would be to garner the hardest NC-17 rating ever. The same could be said of The Rules of Attraction, a pale imitation of the book that also is unlikely to ever reach a true screen adaptation.

The film stars James Van Der Beek as Sean Bateman. If the name sounds familiar it should be Sean is the brother of Psycho’s Patrick Bateman. Sean Bateman isn’t the nutball his brother is but he has his moments, he’s a drug dealer who sells cocaine to classmates for twice what it’s worth. Bateman has a growing obsession with a classmate named Lauren (Shannyn Sossamon). Lauren on the other hand is obsessed with Victor (Kip Pardue, a long way away from Remember The Titans) who has no idea who she is. Victor has spent the past semester in Europe, and upon his return is screwing Lauren’s slutty roommate Lara (Jessica Biel). Rounding out the cast is a predatory gay man named Paul (Ian Somerhalder). Paul has a thing for straight guys and turns his sights on Bateman.

Each character is introduced in flashback, at a party. We begin with Lauren losing her virginity to some loser while the guy she had intended on being with filmed it. Rewind to months earlier and Lauren is doing all she can to keep from having sex including staring at pictures of people with venereal diseases. Sean meanwhile is in trouble with his drug supplier Rupert (Clifton Collins Jr.) for some money he owes.

The plot description is a waste of time, as there didn’t seem to be a plot. What we really have is a collection of scenes intended to shock the audience with audacious visuals and over the top characters. However, the scenes aren’t shocking, they are well visualized but without any context or point of view.

Despite what you may have heard about James Van Der Beek shedding his Dawson persona, the film clearly trades on Van Der Beek’s image. This is especially obvious in a scene between Van Der Beek and Fred Savage that is supposed to be funny because it’s Dawson and the kid from Wonder Years working out details of a drug deal. There are also scenes in which Bateman is seen masturbating which seem to wink at the audience and to say you would never see Dawson do that. In all honesty I don’t mean to rip Van Der Beek, his performance is strong, however it is undercut by Director Roger Avary’s desperate attempts at irony.

The film does have its strengths including a very cool montage of Victor’s trip to Europe. With cool European techno backing him up, Kip Pardue’s narration consists of his character screwing his way across Europe, slurping whatever drugs he can find and judging his destinations by the quality of women he could sleep with. The scenes shot on DV are edited to the killer techno beat, which gives the narration a beat poetry vibe. Very cool.

Though at times the film's visuals are self consciously arty, such as close up of a water faucet that is dripping water into a bathtub full of blood, they are, for the most part, visually exciting and by far the film’s greatest strength. If only the story and the characters were as exciting and interesting as the visuals, Rules Of Attraction could have been great. As it is the film is a mean spirited picture about unlikable characters that looks good on the outside but is entirely hollow.