Barfly

Writer Charles Bukowski's alter ego Henry Chinaski is brought to life by Mickey Rourke in this interesting film from director Barbet Schroeder. In this film there are two great actors playing off each other well. Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway are those two actors.
The film follows drunken writer Henry Chinaski (Mickey Rourke) as he goes through life drinking, starting fights, especially with a pompus bartender named Eddie (Frank Stallone), writing, and moving from place to place. Henry's life suddenly takes on meaning when he meets Wanda (Faye Dunaway) at a bar. The two immediately hit it off and become lovers/friends. As their relationship goes through rough periods they counter it with alcohol. In the midst of all this a publisher named Tully Sorenson (Alice Krige) is searching for Henry about a story he sent her.
This is one of those gems that one finds every once in a while. This was Mickey Rourke at the prime of his acting career before he hit rock bottom and went into career Hell for a little while. It also teams him up with the great Faye Dunaway who holds her own throughout the film, giving a strong performance as only she could do. The supporting characters are seedy and comical and give an added flavor to the strange world of Henry Chinaski.
This is a really good film that offers great performances and a good story. With a screenplay written by Bukowski the film contains his voice, which makes it all the more better. All in all this is a must see for anybody that is a fan of Bukowski's work or anybody who is a fan of Rourke or Dunaway.
This is Rourke at the top of his form and Dunaway doing what she does best: acting. A really good film that can be viewed on YouTube in seven parts. Hopefully this gem will find its way on a proper DVD/blu-ray release.