#140RVW
The 8th Doctor & the Spice Girls manager abandon their cesspool of a flat for a drunken holiday in the country. British hilarity ensues…
What’s more:
I have a theory about niche movies. It’s really more of an opinion than the theory, I suppose, and it extends well beyond movies. It runs basically thus: you really only need one of each, and whichever one you are exposed to first is the one for you. It doesn’t matter how good anything you see later is, it will seem derivative and unnecessary, even if what you see subsequently was actually made first.
This is true for mopey English bands, Delta blues singers, fantasy authors, kung-fu masters, edgy stand-up comics, ballpoint pens, procedural cop shows, impressionist painters, gangsta rappers, architects, you name it. It doesn’t really make much difference which one you pick, as long as you have one. You like Hüsker Dü? Great, me too. But I prefer The Replacements. I know there are probably better slasher flicks than Halloween, but that’s the one I saw first. Grendizer over Voltron, X-Files over Kolchak, Jesus and Mary Chain over Echo and the Bunnymen, Sargent over Monet, Robert Johnson over Son House, the list goes on and on.
So I had a rather unpleasant feeling while I watched Withnail & I. A week later and I’m still struggling with my thoughts about it. This movie came highly recommended, and I know people love it. So while I watched it somewhat disinterestedly, I strongly felt that I should have been enjoying it a lot more. And a big part of the problem is the phenomenon I’m talking about; I really only need one drugs and squalor movie, and for me it’s. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I’m not saying it’s a better movie – I just got there first. (Drugstore Cowboy is actually a better movie than either, but I think it goes beyond drugs & squalor and qualifies as non-niche.)
Withnail & I follows the 8th Doctor and the guy who managed the Spice Girls as they abandon their cesspool of a flat for a holiday in the country, where they are completely unable to care for themselves. It’s a fish out of water story with LOTS of drinking. Unlike most drug movies, the main drug in Withnail & I is alcohol.
The story takes place at the end of the 1960’s in England, where the mood is no longer hopeful, and the setting is perfect. As these out of work actors muddle through, their struggle is part of a larger national identity crisis. This is the ugly side of the Sixties, as the flower children come down from their clouds and are greeted by an increasingly hard and bleak world.
This is comedy, however, and it excels on that score. The madcap misadventures of the characters are what good British comedy is made of, and writer/director Bruce Robinson’s semi-autobiographical tale makes for great entertainment. A star is born in Richard E. Grant in his very first film performance; he is absolutely captivating. Paul McGann, through no fault of his own, is relegated to the background, despite being ostensibly the lead character, both by Grant and by Richard Griffiths, who is equally wonderful as Uncle Monty.
I’ll definitely be re-watching Withnail & I. On paper everything about it is great, and watching the trailer and reviewing quotes as I prepared this review made me remember the movie with more enjoyment than I had when I actually watched it. Maybe the problem was simply that I was tired, or that I was watching it on an empty stomach (I should have filled it with alcohol so as to better be in the appropriate mood).
I find myself in the odd position of highly recommending a movie that I personally didn’t love. But I suppose that happens sometimes when you critique films. The Killing Fields was the best movie I hope never to see again (heartbreaking), so there is a precedent for this sort of thing. Cheers…
Poster:
Trailer:
Bechdel Test:
Fail
| Main Cast | Richard E. Grant Withnail, Paul McGann & I/Marwood, Richard Griffiths Monty, Ralph Brown Danny |
| Rating | R |
| Release Date | Fri 19 Jun 1987 UTC |
| Director | Bruce Robinson |
| Genres | Comedy, Drama |
| Plot | London 1969 – two ‘resting’ (unemployed and unemployable) actors, Withnail and Marwood, fed up with damp… |
| Poster |  |
| Runtime | 107 |
| Tagline | You are cordially invited to spend a funny weekend in the English countryside. (US poster) |
| Writers | Bruce Robinson |
| Year | 1987 |
