Factotum
IFC Films | Release Date: August 18, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
71
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews
Positive:
21
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Factotum is so sly and low-key hilarious that anybody can be in on the joke. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Factotum, for all its grim grind, is funny-serious, and smart-stupid. Just like you after four beers, and me after eight. Read full review
80
Film ThreatEric Campos
Bukowski had a bunch of none too kind things to say about “Barfly" upon its release in the 80s, but, with Factotum, he'd do plenty of bitching and moaning as well, but deep down, Hank would approve. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
This is also an acidly funny work, even if the humor is that of a man who drinks to stave off the pain and madness of sobriety. In his finest performance since "Drugstore Cowboy," Dillon plays Chinanski with funereal grandiosity. Read full review
80
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Like the film itself, Mr. Dillon’s performance works through understatement. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
The result is a surprisingly satisfying film, true to Bukowski and itself, a work that manages to make the man and his profane world more palatable without compromising on who he was and what he stood for. Read full review
80
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
The beautiful joke of Factotum is that Dillon is nobility itself. Read full review
80
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
The film looks great on the screen, and Hamer has commissioned a terrific musical score from Kristin Asbjornsen, who has set a few of Bukowski's poems to haunting, jazzy music. Read full review
75
New York PostKyle Smith
Each scene stumbles onto a detail of inspired absurdity or a crunchy bite of dialogue that encapsulates Chinaski's weird flavor of self-destruction. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
In a medium generally about action and momentum, Factotum is largely concerned with inaction and inertia. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Factotum, starring Matt Dillon and Lili Taylor in two of their best film performances, is a good movie about the L.A. underbelly, as recalled by an expert: Charles Bukowski. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
A grim and sometimes funny examination of life on the margins and of a singular artist's world. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Wry and dry. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Warts and all, Factotum feels very close to the real thing. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
The American writer and poet Charles Bukowski is certainly an acquired taste, and Factotum may be just the film for determining whether one wants to acquire it. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterRay Bennett
Matt Dillon is pitch-perfect as Bukowski's alter ego Hank Chinaski. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Despite some fine black comedy, this hovers uncertainly between the novel's tragic precision and "Barfly's" existential burlesque. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
After a while, Factotum surrenders to monotony and only the performances are likely to retain the viewer's interest. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Bukowski fans - and they are legion - may fill in the blanks from their own knowledge of the writer and find Factotum a more complete character study than it really is. For the rest of us, there are a few laughs - and a corking hangover.
63
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
It is fragmented and episodic, and many of Bukowski's best bits are oddly truncated. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Looks steam-cleaned, and that can't be right. Read full review
60
VarietyLeslie Felperin
Arguably one of the best adaptations of Bukowski's work, even compared with Bukowski's own script for 1997's "Barfly," deadpan timing and ace perfs bring out the morose humor and surprising warmth in the often miserabilist scribe's voice. Read full review
50
Village VoiceMelissa Levine
None of it goes anywhere. It's just stylized alcoholism with a tired wink. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
It's too bad that the film was directed by the Norwegian minimalist Bent Hamer (Kitchen Stories), who makes a fetish of building scenes around silence. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Embracing such depths, Bukowski somehow made his art. Simulating them, Factotum just makes us queasy. Read full review
More From This Movie

71 Critic Reviews

6.7 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL