Withnail & I

Bought this on DVD for a £2 on a second-hand market stall a couple of years ago, then upgraded it to blu-ray a few months ago when I saw it on sale in HMV for a bargaintastic three quid. Yet I'd never got around to actually watching it. I'd bought it (twice) off the back of it being this enormous cult classic weighed down with critical praise (Wiki tells me that the readers of Total Film magazine voted it the third greatest comedy film of all time in 2000 and the 13th greatest British film of all time in 2004, it was ranked 38th greatest film of all time by Channel 4 in 2001 in their 100 Greatest Films poll, an Observer poll of 60 eminent British filmmakers and critics voted it 2nd best British film of the last 25 years in 2009, it ranked 1...

A beautiful, dreary and funny film. At times subtle and others direct. Deeply contemplative with majestic scenery and an atmosphere of grey. Sardonic humour with believable, excellently acted characters and scenarios. It's the greatest film about friendship and only gets better with each viewing. The direction is purely cinematic and shows rather than tells. A Masterpiece.

It's a good film, but it's very damaged by the abuse of alcohol, drugs and tobacco, and by the weakness of the script, in terms of narrative.

I expected a lot more from this movie, I have to confess. It is considered by many to be one of the best British comic films, and there is no doubt that the dialogues and situations were extremely funny, and it is not difficult to laugh at the absurd situations and conversations that are observed here. But it's also no lie that the film is far from being a work of perfection.

The script is based on the coexistence between two characters, Withnail and another boy, whose name is never mentioned, and who supposedly tells the story in the first person. They are two aspiring actors, absolutely fa...

Just what exactly was it lurking in the sink? Probably best not to know as we meet the dipso "Withnail" (Richard E. Grant) and his marginally more respectable pal who'd be the "Marwood/I" (Paul McGann). Two "resting" actors who haven't tuppence to rub together. A visit to his gay uncle "Monty" (Richard Grffiths) provides them with some fine wine and with the key to his remote country cottage where they duly adjourn for an holiday. They don't exactly fit in, indeed having no money, firewood, fuel or much of a clue just antagonises the locals. The bracing country air - and the relentless rain - just isn't for them, and their situation only gets worse when "Uncle" comes a calling and takes a bit of a shine to the frankly rather terrified "Marw...