Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Moderate
- sardonic
- grotesque
- confrontational
- late night viewing
- cult movie night
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film an offbeat, absorbing dark comedy elevated by Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway, while noting that its grotesque excess can become absurd.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Henry Chinaski explicitly despises the American dream and refuses to become something within the system.
Henry and Wanda form a relationship structured around whiskey, infidelity, fights, and repeated attempts at reconciliation.
Bar fights, paramedic visits, drunken betrayals, and the cat fight are framed with absurdist comic excess.
Henry writes poetry and stories amid barroom drinking, then attracts a literary agent despite rejecting career ambition.
Films like Barfly, and why
The Lost Weekend
Shared boozy outsider protagonists, abrasive dark humor, and romanticized marginal lives.
Leaving Las Vegas
Shared barroom fatalism, self-destructive romance, and literary outsider sensibility.
Factotum
Shared Bukowskian urban squalor, anti-establishment characters, and offbeat comic drama.
Movie Details
- Director
- Barbet Schroeder
- Release Date
- 1987-09-02
- Runtime
- 100 min
- Rating
- 6.9 / 10 (403)
Cast
- Mickey Rourke
- Faye Dunaway
- Alice Krige
- Jack Nance
- J.C. Quinn
- Frank Stallone Jr.
- Sandy Martin
- Roberta Bassin
- Gloria LeRoy
- Joe Unger
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video
- Buy
- Amazon Video
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Barfly about?
- A fiercely unkempt romantic comedy about a drunken poet who finds fragile belonging without surrendering his outsider life.
- What is Barfly like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Barfly as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Barfly violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Barfly as moderate.
- What did critics think of Barfly?
- Critics broadly found the film an offbeat, absorbing dark comedy elevated by Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway, while noting that its grotesque excess can become absurd.
- Which films are like Barfly?
- Films with a similar feel include The Lost Weekend, Leaving Las Vegas, and Factotum.
- How long is Barfly?
- Barfly runs 100 minutes.
- Where can I watch Barfly?
- In United States, Barfly is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video.
