I just finished writing my thoughts about Ask the Dust, John Fante's master novel adapted by Robert Towne, and it really was impossible for me to stop without sharing a few thoughts about Charles Bukowski. The performances in this one are fantastic. However, Mickey Rourke's take on the Bukowski alter-ego, Henry Chinaski, is more of an exaggerated charicature. For a more subtle, and far more accurate, portrayal of the notorious poet look to Matt Dillion in Factotum. I would expect the biggest complaint about this picture to be the screenplay itself. For example, Michael Costello's observation at the bottom of this page reads: "What little story there is...." I'm not sure if Costello was aware of Bukowski's correspondence with John Fante, but when Bukowski was asked to write the introduction to a new printing of Fante's Ask the Dust, he solicited the man himself for advice. Fante was himself a successful Hollywood screen writer. In his reply to Bukowski, he tells him the necessary details about the writing of the book and in closing offers a few words answering Bukowski's questions about screenplay writing. I don't have the exact words in front of me, but it was something to this effect: "That Frenchman who stands over your shoulder while you type sounds like a kook to me. You are the writer. They asked you to do the writing. Write the most unorthodox script you can, the script that is most appealing to you."
Sage advice.