Review of Withnail & I (1987) by Brett C — 29 Jun 2014

Review In A Nutshell:

Withnail & I tells the story of two British blokes, Withnail and Marwood, who are disappointed with their current condition in life, decided to borrow the country cottage from Withnail's uncle in order to get away from the madness of their lives.

I found the film's plot to be slightly underwhelming, failing to hold me and keep me interested on figuring out or search for the film's core substance. I can definitely feel its presence, so I cannot say that this film is lifeless but if it was delivered, both in its writing and directing, with more flourish then I wouldn't feel so cold towards it.

Thankfully, it is the characters that saved the film. All of the film's characters possess this wonderful and hilarious dialogue that certainly doesn't force itself down your throat. It is executed in a much more subtle way, letting us decide whether or not what is being said is actually delivered in a comedic or serious way. Their dialogue and the characters personalities keeps me from being completely uninterested in the film, I was able to somewhat connect with the characters, though not as much as the film wants me to be, but still connected. By the third act of the film, it was difficult for me to follow the film's plot as I eventually became uninterested with the story, and instead I put all of my attention on the characters. I would have still felt the same, maybe slightly better, if the film let them ramble on and get into more situations.

The film's score was quite pleasant to listen to. It worked with the film's story and the personalities of the characters. It remains light throughout but it does contain a sense of melancholy to its tune, which works with the film's resolution. The film does feature some wonderful tracks from artists like Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles.

The film features great performances from both Richard Grant and Paul McGann. One can truly see the commitment and love they have for their characters, giving their roles tiny details that makes their roles distinguishable from one another. If it weren't for the actors, then it would have been difficult for me to remotely care for the characters. They elevate every single scene with clever back and forth dialogue, and chemistry that is close to being unbeaten by other roles similar to theirs. Richard Griffiths was also wonderful in the role, providing us a character that comes off as both comedic and terrifying, it may not be clear at first but as the film progresses we see shades of him that would also have us retreating to a corner of a room.

I wanted to love this film, I truly did, as it possesses qualities that would make for a great film, but sadly some of those are delivered in an underwhelming fashion that it is hard to completely look past it. I suggest watching this, primarily for the acting and dialogue alone as they are definitely the qualities that allow this film to somewhat stand out above the rest.