Rating of
3.5/4
Inspired, addictive cult classic
stephskie67 - wrote on 03/25/13
This is the second time I've watched this movie - with a mere 20 year gap in between viewings - and I can honestly say it's as brilliant as I remembered and still made me want to live the life of a reprobate, booze-swilling, drug-chomping, out of work actor, lounging around in a smoking jacket or madly running round the Welsh countryside being chased by angry locals- despite the fact that that romantic idyll is so thoroughly de-bunked in 'Withnail & I'. For some reason, the film can't help one view Withnail and Marwood's 'bohemian' lifestyle through rose-tinted spectacles.
Withnail, an unemployed and (for all intents and purposes), unemployable actor is an inspired act by Richard E. Grant and Marwood, his long suffering friend, is portrayed skillfully by Paul McGann. The two degenerates have sunk to the very depths of squalor and despair and live surrounded (and drowning) in their own filth and detritus. Withnail is the perfect stingingly aloof, uncaring 'angry young man', immersed in self-destruction and the very epitome of a self-destructive, sneering, middle class intellectual that only the British could engender. Marwood cares a mite more and eventually becomes somewhat concerned about their situation: the copious amounts of drugs they ingest, the money they don't have and the terrible state of their health and surroundings. Facing the kitchen sink (and the horrors that lurk therein) appears to be the turning point when they both realise they have 'have to get away from it all'. At this point it would be very remiss of me not to bestow praise upon Ralph Brown, who plays Danny, the stereotypical monotone, ever-stoned, ever-present drug dealer, who, while appearing and sounding like he doesn't have many brain cells left, actually provides a quirky brand of mindfulness, wisdom and calm in the face of his clients' drug induced bouts of terror. When things can't get any worse for the hapless duo, Withnail remembers that his rich Uncle Monty has a 'cottage' in Wales that could be just the ticket for their escape from the filth, drugs and self induced paranoia that have become the very essence of their dissolute London life.
The thing about 'Withnail & I' is that the plot really doesn't matter; it's all about the characters, the dialogue, the milieu and the emergence of a generation of 'drop outs' who just don't care about societal conventions and yet hold on to a strong sense of self-entitlement; as such, this movie effortlessly provides entertaining, hilarious, 'black' and addictive cinema. It captures so many quintessential elements of British culture from the all too obvious class system, to the rolling countryside, stone fences, and patchwork fields, to the emerging culture and the ways in which characters of Withnail and Marwood's ilk attempt to rebel against the social order. Despite their intellectual prowess, the two miscreants have no practical skills whatsoever, resulting in much hilarity (for the viewer) as they lurch about the countryside, supremely inept at 'living off the land', or even making it to the shops. Uncle Monty, played by Richard Griffiths, is perfect for the part and his lascivious pursuit of Marwood results in the ultimate bedroom farce.
Withnail and I is a cult classic, from its excellent and fitting soundtrack to its perfect depiction of the privileged, over educated and willfully unemployed generation of that time. If you appreciate good movies and haven't seen it - YOU MUST!
