Matt Dillon stars in Factotum (rated R), a film based on the more than semi-autobiographical novel by Charles Bukowski. It co-stars Lili Taylor and Oscar winner Marisa Tomei.
Anthony Lane writes in the New Yorker: “Factotum” is delivered with aplomb by the Norwegian director Bent Hamer. Together with Jim Stark, he also wrote the screenplay, which is adapted from the work of Charles Bukowski. “Factotum” the book is a good deal more lurid than “Factotum” the motion picture; Bukowski wrote it in the first person, with his customary compound of the laid-back and the rampant, thus tempting his fans to read it as personal memoir. A fair dose of his prose survives in the script, much of it intoned by Dillon with an exhausted growl, yet Hamer never tries to conjure a visual wildness that might match the roiling temper of his hero, or the sway of his gaze. This strikes me as a wise restraint; the camera cools things down, content to view Chinaski in the third person, and often beating a slow and sober retreat from his array of boozy companions, as if honoring their wish to be left in peace.
Quinceanera (rated R) is the story of Magdelena (Emily Rios) a 14 year old pregnant Mexican-American girl who, after being thrown out by her parents, finds comfort with her uncle and gay cousin. All this happens alongside a neighborhood gentrification backstory.
Moira Macdonald writes in the Seattle Times: Co-writer/directors Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland have crafted a small gem, one of those movies from which you emerge feeling happier about the human condition. Rios' gentle performance creates a heroine to whom we are drawn, and the film's final, glowing shots of Magdalena are like a gift. Forgiveness, acceptance and love — and perhaps miracles — are in the air as "Quinceañera" reaches its conclusion.
Both films are now playing at the Brooklyn Heights Cinema I & II 70 Henry Street. Call theater for showtimes (718)369-0838.
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