Withnail and I - Criterion Collection
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Paul Mcgann, Richard E. GrantBrand: Image Entertainment
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 107 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-07-10
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Criterion
Movie Reviews of Withnail and I - Criterion Collection
Movie Review: One of the Best Films I've Seen in a Long Time
Summary: 5 Stars
A recent addition to Roger Ebert's ongoing Great Movies list, Withnail and I is a quirky, low-budget, buddy-comedy of sorts that has none of the characteristics of a typical cinematic masterpiece but is still one of the best films I've seen in some time.
Richard E. Grant plays Withnail, with Paul McGann playing Marwood (who's never actually called that in the film and is credited as "& I"). Withnail and Marwood are two out of work actors living in squalor in Camden Town, London circa 1969. Constantly drunk, the two decide to escape to the English countryside for a while, by staying at Withnail's gay Uncle Monty's cottage. Things get very interesting when Monty (Richard Griffiths) arrives and shows them his love for life...And his interest for Marwood.
Withnail and I is filled with wry, British humor. Not all of it is laugh-out-loud funny, but all of it is amusing. The performances are all delightful, with McGann perfect as Marwood. Grant however is particularly impressive as Withnail. The character is rarely seen sober or without a cigarette dangling from his lip. Grant plays this character with a certain wide-eyed eccentricity that makes him both loveable and incredibly memorable.
It's a brilliant piece of character acting.
One of the things that make Withnail and I so enduring is the scenes. The film admittedly doesn't have much of a plot to speak of but has more great scenes than even the most complicated film. Not a single scene feels too long or unnecessary and scenes like Marwood confronting a bull or Withnail "making time" to a soundtrack of Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile" will remain in your memory.
The film is filled with grin-inducing dialogue and hilarious situations, notably when Monty attempts to convince Marwood that Marwood is gay and to avoid an unpleasant situation, Marwood must convince Monty he actually is.
Beneath all the drugs, alcohol, and cursing; Withnail and I also manages to touch on universal themes, like friendship. And, let it be known, this is a great movie about friendship. Withnail and Marwood are a sort of alcoholic, witty, British Butch and Sundance.
Despite its low budget and nothing stand-out by way of cinematography, set-design, or anything like that, Withnail and I is a brilliantly scripted and acted film that deserves a large audience. Entertaining, funny, and brilliant.
GRADE: A
Summary of Withnail and I - Criterion Collection
London. The 60s. Two unemployed actors-acerbic, elegantly wasted Withnail (Richard E. Grant) and the anxiety-ridden "I" (Paul McGann)-drown their frustrations in booze, pills, and lighter fluid. When Withnail's Uncle Monty (Richard Griffiths) offers his cottage, they escape the squalor of their flat for a week in the country. They soon realize they've gone on holiday by mistake when their wits-and friendship-are sorely tested by violent downpours, less-than-hospitable locals, and empty cupboards. An intelligent, superbly acted, and hilarious film, The Criterion Collection is proud to present Bruce Robinson's semi-autobiographical cult favorite in its complete and uncut version.A corrosively funny, semiautobiographical account by writer-director Bruce Robinson (How to Get Ahead in Advertising) about a couple of destitute roommates, young actors living in drunken squalor in 1969, the twilight days of swingin' London. Withnail (the astounding Richard E. Grant in a definitive performance) is a kind of depraved, modern-day Oscar Wilde, but without the money or the manners. The "I" of the title is the younger and more impressionable Marwood (Paul McGann), who stands somewhat in awe of his scandalous, demented, hysterical pal. While on a miserable holiday in the bitterly cold and damp countryside, they stay with wealthy, corpulent "Uncle Monty" (Richard Griffiths), who takes quite a liking to young Marwood, much to his consternation. Though not well known in the United States, Withnail & I has a major cult following in England. It's uproariously funny in a peculiarly British way, and the acting is absolutely scintillating. (Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert said Griffiths's was the best performance by an actor in a British film since Denholm Elliott in A Room with a View.) This one's a real treat for the caustic at heart. --Jim Emerson
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