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Actors: Mickey Rourke, Faye Dunaway, Alice Krige, Jack Nance, J.C. Quinn, Frank Stallone
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Barfly |
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Henry Chinaski (Rourke) is a poet and alcoholic in the 1960s and 1970s who spends most of his time drinking. Occasionally he picks a fight with a feisty bartender like Eddie (Stallone). One night at the Golden Horn he notices a weathered, former beauty of an alcoholic named Wanda Wilcox (Dunaway), and they hook up, hang out, drink and talk. Mostly the movie just shows their lives and milieu without moral or judgment. Eventually a gorgeous editor (Krige) who has published some of Henry's work shows up and gets mixed up in his sordid life. Charles Bukowski wrote this highly autobiographical story, which was directed in 1987 by Barbet Schroeder. Mostly, it's grimy and good, although the editor babe subplot -- especially a catfight with Wanda -- strains credulity. Rourke and Dunaway are awesome.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Barfly |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about
books by breaking them down into many different literary
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 1960's-1970's
Inner struggle or disability
Yes
Job/Profession/Poverty Story?
Yes
Job:
- writer
Druggie/Wino problems?
- alcohol
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- writer
Age:
- 40's-50's
Eccentric:
Yes
- eccentric
- wild
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) average
Unclothed?
- Chest
Events of movie makes character more...
- sad
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor?
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- druggie/wino disease
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
Hair style
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn straight
Body type
- (woman) average
How much in movie?
- 60%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- blue collar
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 20%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- California
City?
Yes
City:
- Los Angeles
- dirty, grimy (like New York)
- rude people
Misc setting
- bar
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Movie makes you feel...
- all mixed up
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- kissing
- sex under blankets
Any profanity?
- Some foul language
Is this movie based on a
- book
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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