Barfly

"I'm gonna separate you from your parts, you West Side bitch." Granted, Faye Dunaway's words of endearment--prelude to a catfight in a bar between Dunaway's character Wanda and a literary magazine editor (Alice Krige) with a romantic notion of life in the gutter--would win no points with Emily Post for interpersonal communications, but it does contain a pointed reference to one of the major themes of Barbet Schroeder's 1987 black comedy, based on an autobiographical script by Charles Bukowski (who died in 1994): namely, class, or the lack of it. The catfight itself is over one of the sorriest examples of a romantic lead to ever grace the silver screen: part-time writer and full-time drunk Henry Chinaski (Mickey Rourke, whose mannered low-key singsong delivery is absolutely maddening, but also one hundred percent consistent). In episodic nature, Barfly chronicles a few days in Henry's down-and-out-by-choice life (sadomasochistically starting fistfights with a bartender played by Frank Stallone, raiding an urban corn field with Wanda, accidentally knifing a next door neighbor during a broken up domestic dispute that turns out to be a weird form of love play between an elderly couple, and so on). Over the top? Crikey, it's over the top, out the back door and halfway across town, but it has its genuine moments, most of which involve the radiant-even-in-shabbiness Dunaway, who was recognized with a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress. Warner has done a solid job on the transfer, and loaded up the disc with some impressive extras, including a commentary track by Schroeder, the 12-minute featurette "I Drink, I Gamble and I Write: The Making of Barfly," and four excerpts from "The Charles Bukowski Tapes." A strong, optional purchase. (R. Pitman)