MovieChat Forums > Factotum (2005) Discussion > Isn't this movie more scary than a horro...

Isn't this movie more scary than a horror flick?

posted 13 years ago by jeffyoung1
6 replies | jump to latest

(They) say that we invent monsters like, vampires, werewolves, zombies, et al, to give face to the real monsters inside of us, as we walk around with perfectly normal human faces.

But look into the mirror and you'll see the true monster. I recall, Hannibal Lecter was the ultimate true monster, MAN.

FACTOTUM goes a long way towards proving the point. Look into the mirror and see the real monster. That's washed-up, wannabee writer, Hank (Henry B.), who's a monster mainly to himself.

There's been a few movies over the 80 plus year span of Hollywood that depicts men intent on destroying themselves. These movies are good, in my opinion, to show to male teenagers and very young men in the hopes of scaring them onto the straight and narrow. Slow, deliberate suicide is no excuse to go through life.

Hank is somewhat different than other burn-outs. He's an educated, literate, erudite, alcoholic bum. Sometimes when he hassles someone, he's quite the poet.

The real unbelivable part of the movie is Hank's ability to pick up attractive female barflies. It helps to be tall, handsome, and exude some kind of odd, masculine magnetic charisma. Maybe it's true about pheromones. Some of the most financially and career successful men can't attract a woman to save their lives and probably have to pay for it in order to get it.

[–] webber115 13 years ago

It seems to me that you don't really know what you're going on about. Hank's life was a highly romanticized undertaking, it had very little to do with "slow, deliberate suicide," and the idea that you would use this film to scare people into the straight and narrow casts you along side the very people Hank fought against all his life.

You should try reading the novel.

Razzle them, dazzle them. Razzle dazzle them.

[–] shempXIV 12 years ago

Be afraid...be very afraid.

Actually I thought this movie was kind of dull...Mickey Rourke has been accused of going over-the-top with his portrayal ok Buk but Matt Dillon UNDERplays Buk to the extent that he barely registers as a character at all...plus, Lili Taylor looks too healthy (in this movie) to play an alcholic skank.

[–] maturity 8 years ago

I think the movie does something remarkably unique by making you actually feel drunk. I literally felt numb and like I was floating. Like I had drunk a half gallon m margarita with 100% agave tequila. Something about the music, the narration, the pace / editing and acting makes it intoxicating without even drinking. I felt this way years apart watching the movie. The soundtrack based on Bukowski poems adds a lot. I lied the Fisher Stevens scenes the most, when they are betting at the race track and cheating their co-workers.

I disagree on Lili Taylor and Matt Dillon. He moves and stands the same way Bukowski did in documentaries. Lili has a gut and cellulite, her face is rough. Someone said Matt Dillon looks like an underwear model. Just because he doesn't have acne scars like Bukowski does not mean he doesn't look authentic. Some guys who are drunks and ne'er-do-wells look clean cut and well dresssed. William S. Burroughs was a junky who abused every drug and looked like a businessman.

[–] shempXIV 12 years ago

Be afraid...be very afraid.

Actually I thought this movie was kind of dull...Mickey Rourke has been accused of going over-the-top with his portrayal of Buk in "Barfly" but Matt Dillon UNDERplays Buk to the extent that he barely registers as a character at all...plus, Lili Taylor looks too healthy (in this movie) to play an alcoholic skank. After watching this movie I wasn't sure whether I needed a beer, an espresso, or a nap...maybe I did all three, I can't recall.

[–] Somewhere_Else_24 8 years ago

The real unbelivable part of the movie is Hank's ability to pick up attractive female barflies. It helps to be tall, handsome, and exude some kind of odd, masculine magnetic charisma. Maybe it's true about pheromones.

Maybe it's true about female nature. You may not have noticed, but the type of guys women go for the most in their prime aren't exactly the nine-to-five, goody-goody, perfect Joes who've done everything right. They only turn to these stable types for security, or when they've had their fair share of the rough-and-tumble. And even then, it's often as Jan said near the end, "I hate it when he *beep* me."

I never tell girld I have a job, degrees, and assets when I go out looking for flings on the weekends. And I never dress employable. And yes, being handsome or charismatic does help.

So, no, I'd say that part was the most believable in the entire movie.

[–] TheBlackWaffle (226) 6 years ago

Charisma is everything, my friend.

And yes, this movie is a marvel, and all men should watch it. That said, I saw it when I was 22 and had just moved to Hollywood to become a screenwriter, and twelve years later I’m still struggling my ass off and drinking too much. Maybe I should watch it again now that I’ve basically become a real-life version of Hank.