Review of Withnail & I (1987) by Tony P — 28 Jan 2016
Hilarious British comedy.
London, 1969. Two unemployed actors, Withnail (played by Richard E Grant) and Marwood (Paul McGann), are destitute and desperately in need of a change of fortunes. They decide to go on holiday to a cottage in the country. The cottage is owned by Withnail's eccentric uncle, Monty (Richard Griffiths). Things don't go entirely smoothly and get even more complicated when Monty arrives unexpectedly...
Incredibly funny, especially the first few scenes - them living in their squalor and having to be resourceful - and the last few scenes - when they're back from the country.
Dialogue is great and is delivered perfectly. Richard E Grant's wonderfully over-the-top performance makes the movie. Not that Paul McGann gives a bad performance, he is just more the straight man in the comedy duo and thus his performance is less intense. Any scenes involving Danny the drug dealer (Ralph Brown) are fantastic too.
On the negative side, some the situational comedy is a bit cheap and silly. This is particularly so with the ongoing tension between Marwood and Monty. That seemed over-exaggerated and overdone. The third quarter of the movie seemed to drag, due to that.
Production values are not that great either. Both video and audio seemed sub-par.
This review of Withnail & I (1987) was written by Tony P on 28 Jan 2016.
Withnail & I has generally received very positive reviews.
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