Movie info
| Languages: | English |
| Filming dates: | 2 February 1987 - March 1987 |
| Budget: | USD 3,000,000 |
| Plot: | Henry Chinaski never cared for the American dream, the thought of needing to become 'something' and fit into the system disgusts him. He believes that life is free and yours to live like you see fit, and if that in some cases involves copious amounts of whiskey then so be it. Henry spends his days drinking and listening to the radio, and he spends his nights drinking and fighting against Eddy who he thinks personifies shallowness and shameless self promoting. Sometimes in the middle of this he finds the time to jot down a few lines of poetry or a short story. After fighting Eddy and winning for a change Henry is thrown out of his regular bar where Eddy is a bartender. This leads him to seek another watering hole where he happens to find Wanda who is a barfly, in her own words "if another man came along with a fifth of whiskey, I'd go with him". Henry is not fazed by this thou and moves in with her. Of course Wanda immediately goes off and sleeps with Eddy, but after some clothes throwing and two visits from the paramedics Henry and Wanda manage to patch up their relationship. Then Henry gets a visit from a literary agent who has decided to publish one of his stories that he sent in because he "liked the name of the mag". He follows the agent home to her place in order to receive his payment and with the help of a little whiskey sleeps with her. When he leaves to go back to the bar and back to Wanda the agent is heartbroken, she sees something special in Henry and has fallen in love with him. She follows him to his usual bar and gets into a cat fight with Wanda that Wanda wins. In celebration of new found love, happiness and money Henry buys a round for everyone at the bar and toasts them "to my friends!" |
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Original Soundtracks
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"Hip Hug-Her" By Steve Cropper, Booker T. Jones, Al Jackson, Jr. and Donal Dunn Published by Irving Music, Inc. (DMI) Performed by Booker T and the MG's Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp. By Arrangement with Warner Special Products "Nine Below Zero" By Sonny Boy Williamson Published by Arc Music Corp. (BMI) Performed by The Nighthawks Courtesy of Adelphi Records "Silver Threads Among the Gold" Arranged by Lou Ukelson Published by Jimmy Skinner Music (BMI) Performed by Shot Jackson and Friends Courtesy of Vetoo Records "Hair Street" By John Lurie Published by Barking Lady Music (BMI) Performed by The Lounge Lizards Courtesy of Island Records "25th Piano Concerto in C. K603" By Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Courtesy of Supraphon Records, Prague "Poem of Ecstasy" By Alexander Scriabin Courtesy of Supraphon Records, Prague "Exsultate, Jubilate, K166" By Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Courtesy of Regent Recorded Music "Piano Concerto No. 4" By Ludwig van Beethoven Courtesy of Supraphon Records, Prague "Born Under a Bad Sign" By Booker T. Jones and William Bell Published by Irving Music, Inc. Performed by Albert King Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp. By Arrangement with Warner Special Products "The Sermon" By Jimmy Smith Published by Edmy Music Publishing Company (BMI) Performed by Jimmy Smith Courtesy of Blue Note Records Under license from Manhattan Records, a division of Capitol Records, Inc. "Theme for Ernie" By Fred Lacey Published by Presitge Music (BMI) Performed by John Coltrane Courtesy of Fantasy, Inc. |
Goofs
| Continuity: Henry calls an ambulance and gives address of apartment building as 334, while in scene earlier that day building is clearly marked 360. |
Quotes
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Wanda: I can't stand people, I hate them. Henry: Oh yeah? Wanda: Do you hate them? Henry: No, but I seem to feel better when they're not around. Henry: Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead. Henry: That's it. Wanda: That's what? Henry: I'm broke. Can't buy another drink. Wanda: You mean you don't have any money? Henry: No money, no job, no rent. Hey, I'm back to normal. Eddie: All you gotta do is beg for a little mercy. Henry: Quittin' to you would be like swallowin' piss for eternity. Henry: Some guys really know how to get the women. Jim: Now, you don't know how? Henry: Hey, I can get one for ten minutes. That's my limit. Henry: I remember ordering a draught, barkeep. What, are you out of brew, or has that lobotomy finally taken hold? Eddie: I'd hate to be you if I were me. Old Fart: Now look. Twenty bucks for that kind of head is outrageous. Grandma Moses: I did ya good, old fart. I did ya good. I oughta bit your champagne cork off. Old Fart: I'm givin' ya fifteen bucks. Grandma Moses: Twenty bucks. Nobody in this neighborhood can swallow paste like I can. Tully: Why did you send your stuff to us? Henry: Well, I liked the title of the mag. It boggled my scrotum. Tully: Why don't you stop drinking? Anybody can be a drunk. Henry: Anybody can be a non-drunk. It takes a special talent to be a drunk. It takes endurance. Endurance is more important than truth. Henry: This is a world where everybody's gotta do something. Y'know, somebody laid down this rule that everybody's gotta do something, they gotta be something. You know, a dentist, a glider pilot, a narc, a janitor, a preacher, all that. [sighs] Sometimes I just get tired of thinking of all the things that I don't wanna do. All the things that I don't wanna be. Places I don't wanna go, like India, like getting my teeth cleaned. Save the whale, all that, I don't understand that. Jim: You're not supposed to think about it. I think the whole trick is, not to think about it. Henry: So you hired a dick to find an asshole? Wanda: I hate the police, don't you? Henry: I don't know, but I seem to feel better when they're not around. Henry: Baby, What we had was just green corn. Henry: [to Eddie] Your mother's cunt stinks like carpet cleaner. Tully: Do you need a drink? Henry: Yeah, like a spider needs a fly. Henry: It's hatred. It's the only thing that lasts. Tully: I take it you don't care for my world. Henry: [scoffs] Well, baby, look around. It's a, it's a cage with golden bars. Henry: You know, in the guest house, you could write in peace. Tully: Hey, Tully baby, nobody who could write worth a damn could ever write in peace, Jesus. Tully: You can really write. Why do you live like a bum? Henry: I am a bum. What do you want me to do? Do you want me to write about the sufferings of the upper classes? Tully: This may be news to you but they suffer too. Henry: Hey baby, nobody suffers like the poor. Henry: [Voice over] And as my hands drop the last desperate pen, in some cheap room, they will find me there and never know my name, my meaning, nor the treasure of my escape. Henry: Why did it have to be Eddie? He symbolizes everything that disgusts me. Obviousness. Unoriginal macho energy. Ladies man... Wanda: You're right. He's not much Wanda: Listen, I drink. And when I drink, I move in the wrong direction... Henry: [to his own bloody face as reflected in the bathroom mirror] Nothing but the dripping sink. Empty bottle. Euphoria. Youth fenced in, stabbed and shaved. Taut words propped up to die Harry: Don't be sorry, just put on some new underwear. Lenny: Well, Wanda's just drunk and besides that, she's too fat. |
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