You get two interregnum Doctors for the price of one in Withnail and I - Paul McGann and Richard E. Grant - a somewhat meandering fiction based on the author's diary from his days as a struggling actor in late 60s England. If the Doctor Who angle interests you, the two leads are really playing to type. McGann is a manic soul, seeing monsters under ever dirty dish, a nervous, neurotic poet. Grant is his callous, self-serving, vain, venal room mate, a real misery. Both are powerful presences and if the plot, which eventually takes them on a road trip to the country ("a holiday by accident") where they can be even more miserable, is thin, the acting is not. I have to say I care much less when they're NOT on that trip, though. Among the other eccentrics in the film, Richard Griffiths has the largest and most important role, as Withnail's gay uncle whose advances McGann's character must fight off. Though the latter protests that he is not gay, there's still a certain sexual ambivalence exuding from the film that makes the central relationship ambiguous, and that's interesting. I'm also enamored of the many Hamlet references because Hamletesque inaction is certainly part of the film's themes, and the two characters are more like two facets of the Dane than the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern comic double act. And yet, they're that too. Deeper than it at first seems.
I recently took a trip to England and mentioned Withnail and I to some friends of mine there. I was expecting them to whip out a bunch of quotes or at least a shot of lighter fluid, but none of them had ever even heard of it. Is it possible to live in London and to have never heard of this movie? I guess it is.
Add your comment
Comments 1 - 15 of 19
goatboy
We've gone on holiday by mistake.beeswax
As a youth I used to weep in butcher shops.Siskoid
You get two interregnum Doctors for the price of one in Withnail and I - Paul McGann and Richard E. Grant - a somewhat meandering fiction based on the author's diary from his days as a struggling actor in late 60s England. If the Doctor Who angle interests you, the two leads are really playing to type. McGann is a manic soul, seeing monsters under ever dirty dish, a nervous, neurotic poet. Grant is his callous, self-serving, vain, venal room mate, a real misery. Both are powerful presences and if the plot, which eventually takes them on a road trip to the country ("a holiday by accident") where they can be even more miserable, is thin, the acting is not. I have to say I care much less when they're NOT on that trip, though. Among the other eccentrics in the film, Richard Griffiths has the largest and most important role, as Withnail's gay uncle whose advances McGann's character must fight off. Though the latter protests that he is not gay, there's still a certain sexual ambivalence exuding from the film that makes the central relationship ambiguous, and that's interesting. I'm also enamored of the many Hamlet references because Hamletesque inaction is certainly part of the film's themes, and the two characters are more like two facets of the Dane than the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern comic double act. And yet, they're that too. Deeper than it at first seems.criscoJovan
"Don't threaten me with a dead fish!"Hah.
fonz
I'm making time!Tommy DeVito
I loved the British humor, perfect acting of both failed stage actors :)ViniciusOG
Oh, Baudelaire... Brings back such memories of Oxford. Oh, Oxford...-1flb2-
I loved the movie. Totally Bonkers!jacktrewin
I couldn't, i'm spacedarunraj
I love this picture...its in my favorite list now...Awesome movie!!MarteJensen
Flowers are essentially tarts; prostitutes for the bees.One of my favourite movies. Brilliant!
devilsadvocado
I recently took a trip to England and mentioned Withnail and I to some friends of mine there. I was expecting them to whip out a bunch of quotes or at least a shot of lighter fluid, but none of them had ever even heard of it. Is it possible to live in London and to have never heard of this movie? I guess it is.Shazaaaam
This took a while to win me over, but by the end it had me laughing. Terrific performances all around, especially Grant and Brown.palefire
Completely unique.Come, Withnail. Let me teach you how to peel potatoes.
gavshak
surprised it isn't top250Showing items 1 – 15 of 19