Barfly

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Barfly

R,

1987,

1h 40m,

Comedy/

Drama

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Watchlist

Watchlist

76%

25 Reviews

Tomatometer

82%

5,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

76%

Tomatometer

25 Reviews

82%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Down-and-out writer Henry Chinaski (Mickey Rourke) spends his nights drinking and picking fights at a dingy Los Angeles watering hole. One night Henry spies a kindred spirit in pretty barfly Wanda (Faye Dunaway) and, despite warning signs that she may be unfaithful, shacks up with the woman. When Henry's fears are confirmed by Wanda's infidelity with bartender Eddie (Frank Stallone), he begins an affair of his own with wealthy publisher Tully Sorenson (Alice Krige).

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Gene Siskel

Chicago Tribune

Aug 23, 2017

2/4

Both characters are the kind of people who want to be left alone. That`s what you may feel like after you spend a few minutes with them.

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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Mar 23, 2010

The first four letters say it all.

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Jan 1, 2000

4/4

The result is a truly original American movie, a film like no other, a period of time spent in the company of the kinds of characters Saroyan and O'Neill would have understood.

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Richard Freedman

Newark Star-Ledger

Jan 14, 2026

3/4

[Mickey Rourke] gives a bravura performance.

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Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

Jun 28, 2022

No more than an extended vignette. [Full review in Spanish].

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Candice Russell

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Aug 19, 2021

3.5/4

Director Barbet Schroeder brilliantly creates a world unknown or invisible to most filmgoers.

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Mar 11, 2019

A Masterpiece! I loved this movie. A very powerful story.

Jan 27, 2019

The best romance movie ever made!

Poe R

Jul 29, 2018

Starring Snagglepuss as Hank Chinaski.

Poe G

Jul 22, 2018

The film practically reeks of booze and hopelessness. What I like most here is that both Schroeder and Bukowski understand that dive bars and their patrons are as American as apple pie.

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Hagrid G

Apr 4, 2018

Mickey Rourke as Charles Bukowski - wonderful to see. Barbet Schroeder kept the tone steady on this one.

Hermione R

Dec 28, 2017

Charles Bukowski's writing transcends experience. Something about his words can penetrate all life experience. I've never been through the gutters that Bukowski frequented, I've never even had a drink of alcohol, but there is something so powerful, visceral, and evocative in Bukowski's skid row poetry, it's hard not to be moved or have your stomach turned or to smile and not even know why. Bukowski's naturalism, his vivid realities, speak to human experiences in the most unique ways. That said, Bukowski's prose was never thought to be a natural for the big screen. And yet, here we are with Barfly turning 30 years old this weekend. Bukowski wrote the screenplay at the behest of director Barbet Schroder who promised direct the film exactly as Bukowski wrote. It took nearly a decade and the insane producers Menachem Golan and Yoram Globus to make it happen, but Schroder lived up to his promise. Barfly is fully and completely a product of Bukowski. https://geeks.media/classic-movie-review-barfly?_ga=2.96748895.1126457623.1513947710-953607229.1513947710

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Barbet Schroeder

Director

Mickey Rourke

Henry Chinaski

Faye Dunaway

Wanda Wilcox

Alice Krige

Tully Sorenson

Jack Nance

Detective

J.C. Quinn

Jim

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Synopsis

Down-and-out writer Henry Chinaski (Mickey Rourke) spends his nights drinking and picking fights at a dingy Los Angeles watering hole. One night Henry spies a kindred spirit in pretty barfly Wanda (Faye Dunaway) and, despite warning signs that she may be unfaithful, shacks up with the woman. When Henry's fears are confirmed by Wanda's infidelity with bartender Eddie (Frank Stallone), he begins an affair of his own with wealthy publisher Tully Sorenson (Alice Krige).

Director: Barbet Schroeder
Producer: Tom Luddy, Fred Roos, Barbet Schroeder
Screenwriter: Charles Bukowski
Production Co: Golan-Globus, Zoetrope Studios
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $116.6K
Runtime: 1h 40m

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