Faye Dunaway in Barfly (1987)

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Barfly (1987) is a slice-of-life film about two barflies. Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway were cast against type, and performed brilliantly. The screenplay was written by poet and author Charles Bukowski, who lived on the streets, and feels true art should be absolutely real. The story is autobiographical, and concerns three days in his life. As the film opens, we enter a bar, then go out to the alley to see Rourke and the bartender trying to pound each other’s face in. Rourke is doing it because people think he can't, and because the bartender is a macho asshole who treats all of his customers as if they were scum. Rourke loses badly, and is left unconscious on the sidewalk.

The next day, we see him do a little writing, discover that some upper class woman has hired a PI to find him, and see him go back to the bar and kick the crap out of the bartender. He stops in another bar to celebrate the victory, and spots Dunaway at the end of the bar sitting alone. He asks the bartender about her, and is told that people leave her alone because she is crazy. That is high praise as far as Rourke is concerned, and he heads over, and spend his last two dollars buying them a drink. When she learns he is broke, she takes him home.

He learns that she is every bit as much a barfly as he is. She informs him that if a man came to her with a fifth, she would probably go home with him, and that she makes bad decisions when she drinks. Rourke moves in to save rent. Life gets more complicated when the upper class woman finds him, and turns out to own a literary magazine. She wants to pay him for a short story and takes him home to bed. The film is perfectly book-ended as we see Rourke enter the same bar, but this time with Dunaway. In comes the magazine owner, and we are treated to a terrific catfight. Like real life, there is no redemption here. They start the film as drunks, and end the film as drunks, although, for the moment, they are drinking together.

While I completely agree with Ebert, it is properly a C+, as it is not for everyone.

Nudity Report: Dunaway shows both nipples in a bathing scene, lots of leg in her apartment, and her panty crotch during a catfight.

Critics Vote: Ebert awarded 4 stars.

IMDb Summary: IMDb readers say 6.6 of 10.

DVD Info: The Widescreen DVD is beautifully transferred and full of special features.


Written by Tuna…courtesy of Scoopy.net