Barfly

Part comedy, part love story, part grim illustration of alcoholism’s relentless noose, Barfly takes us back two decades to a time when we still believed a certain Hollywood actor might become the greatest of his generation: Frank Stallone. Just kidding; the film is actually a tour de force for star Mickey Rourke as part-time writer and full-time drunk Henry Chinaski—a not-so-subtle representation of infamous Los Angeles literary figure Charles Bukowski. Bukowski wrote the screenplay for the film, and paints himself as a defiantly cheerful souse who makes no apologies for the way he chooses to live—a refreshing take on Hollywood’s standard “booze is bad” melodrama. Cinema icons Faye Dunaway and, yes, Frank Stallone co-star.