The ultimate cult British comedy, Bruce Robinson’s semi-autobiographical cinematic bender is a feast of delectably florid dialogue delivered with deadpan relish by stars Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann as, respectively, Withnail and “I.” While Robinson’s dazzling script yields quotable moments galore, it’s the film’s bittersweet evocation of a friendship gradually unraveling that gives this beloved end-of-youth tale its lasting poignancy.
Two out-of-work actors -- the anxious, luckless Marwood (McGann) and his acerbic, alcoholic friend, Withnail (Grant) -- spend their days drifting between their squalid flat, the unemployment office, and the pub. When they take a holiday "by mistake" at the country house of Withnail's flamboyantly gay uncle, Monty (Richard Griffiths), they encounter the unpleasant side of the English countryside: tedium, terrifying locals, and torrential rain.
Reviews
"If the film belongs to anyone, it is Richard E. Grant, who takes the dissolute and mannered character of Withnail and creates a Wildean creature of tragi-comic proportions, the like of which has not been seen in a British film for some time." – London Evening Standard
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