Withnail & I (1987)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Bruce Robinson

Writer:

Bruce Robinson (writer)

Release Date:

19 June 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

You are invited to spend an hilarious weekend in the English countryside.

Plot:

London 1969 - two 'resting' (unemployed and unemployable) actors, Withnail and Marwood, fed up with damp...

Plot Keywords:

Actor | Cottage | Countryside | Reference To Hamlet | Pub

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Richard E. Grant	...	Withnail
Paul McGann	...	Marwood
Richard Griffiths	...	Monty
Ralph Brown	...	Danny
Michael Elphick	...	Jake
Daragh O'Malley	...	Irishman
Michael Wardle	...	Isaac Parkin
Una Brandon-Jones	...	Mrs. Parkin
Noel Johnson	...	General
Irene Sutcliffe	...	Waitress
Llewellyn Rees	...	Tea Shop Proprietor
Robert Oates	...	Policeman One
Anthony Wise	...	Policeman Two
Eddie Tagoe	...	Presuming Ed

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Canada:R (Ontario) | USA:R (certificate #28355) | Australia:MA | Canada:G (Quebec) | New Zealand:R13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | Spain:13 | Singapore:PG | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Ansleigh Place, Notting Hill, London, England, UK

Company:

Cannon Group, The

Trivia:

Despite Paul McGann's speculation on the DVD commentary that Withnail might have gone to Stowe, both he and Uncle Monty are supposed to be old boys of another public school: Harrow. The first hint of this is the print of Harrow hanging up in the Camden flat (it's the one of the redbrick building just next to the door frame leading to the kitchen), but the real clincher is when later, at Monty's house, Withnail lies that Marwood went to "the other place", to which Monty replies, "Oh, you went to Eton!" Members of Eton and Harrow often refer to pupils of the other in this manner.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Shows EEC hedge rows planted near the motorway, a policy not introduced until the 80s.

Quotes:

Marwood: If my father was loaded I'd ask him for some money.
Withnail: If your father was my father you wouldn't get it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The 50 Greatest Comedy Films (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

While My Guitar Gently Weeps

Role of a lifetime

Richard E Grant is simply perfect as Withnail, the addled but undoubtedly well-equipped "actor" on holiday with his pal, the "I" in the title. His soliloquy from Hamlet in the final scene is one of the best readings of that scene anyone's done in film. This is a film with a point, and a great way of avoiding making it too emphatically. I love every character, and every line. When Withnail frantically searches for antifreeze after drinking lighter fluid in a crazed attempt to become drunk, "I" says, "Everyone knows you shouldn't mix your drink!" Superb!