Withnail and I
Bruce Robinson
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Plot Summary
Acerbic and irresistibly self-destructive Withnail (Richard E. Grant) and neurotic Marwood (Paul McGann) are down-at-the-heels actors in 1960s London, living in self-inflicted squalor and drowning their artistic frustrations with booze and any drugs they can get their hands on. Fleeing the doldrums – and unpaid bills – of the city, the pair finds themselves stuck in the less than idyllic country cottage of Withnail’s lascivious uncle Monty. The boundaries of friendship are outrageously tested by hunger, the hostile locals and Monty’s amorous advances in Director Bruce Robinson’s semi-autobiographical cult favorite.
Credits
Director
Screenwriter
Movie Reviews from Rotten Tomatoes
TOMATOMETER
93%- Reviews Counted: 29
- Fresh: 27
- Rotten: 2
- Average Rating: 8.4/10
Top Critics' Reviews
Fresh: Set in 1969 England, it portrays the last throes of a friendship mirroring the seedy demise of the hippie period, delivering some comic gems along the way.
Fresh: The best British comedy ever made? Possibly. A masterpiece? Unquestionably.
Fresh: It's much funnier, and sadder, watched stone-cold sober.
Fresh: Grant - a teetotaller - delivers the performance of his life as the doomed thesp, whether it be demanding the "finest wines available to humanity", downing lighter fluid, or feeling like a pig shat in his head.
Customer Reviews
Infinitely Quotable
This film has always seemed to me like the slightly unsavory, much older cousin of the TV show My So-Called Life. (A show that pretty much captured my own personal Withnail/Marwood teenage friendship.) I guess I'm not alone, as a former Marwood. Disillusioned young people are routinely drawn to strange yet dynamic fringe-dwelling characters who possess a high intellect but not much instinct (or basic desire) for self-preservation.
That, and they often possess an uncanny knack for weird fashion choices that they manage to pull off for NOW, but, as the friendship wears on, we Marwoods begin to visualize as being less attractive in a grown-up future. This is probably why the Withnails of the world never seem destined to live to a ripe old age. But there is that amazing window where debauchery and excess really WORK for someone...and this movie captures that so perfectly. (Drinking lighter fluid? I never tried it myself, but I surely knew someone who did.)
To boot, it is one of the most quotable movies ever. Equal parts funny 'peculiar' and funny 'haha'. Up there with Lebowski in my book.
Funniest movie ever
This is the funniest movie ever made! A must have for anyone interested in off the beaten path movies!!!!
My thumbs have gone all weird ...
This must be one of the best, funniest movies ever made. I saw it over 20 years ago and completely forgot about it. Saw the title on iTunes and almost skipped it because generally fondly remembered old films are a disappointment. Not so with this. I've watched the whole thing three times as well as selected parts many more times and am still convulsed. Rented it and then immediately bought it. I may request that they play it at my funeral so I can "see" it one last time.
Fabulous. Great. Wonderful. Words fail to do it justice.
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