Withnail And I [DVD]

I had forgotten how good this film is - with its social commentary and fabulous quotes. Arrived in perfect condition, on time at a good price. Watch this movie!

The colour restoration has mostly worked. Goes grainy occasionally. Lots of pathos in the performances of Grant and McGann.Of its era and very funny and eccentric performances from the support characters.The "extras" interview are illuminating. Bruce Robinson, an alcoholic, is very revealing about the process of directing.

Hilariously funny with some cracking one liners. Brilliantly played. Will always be a favourite.

Literally one of the best movies eve made.. Richard E Grant is a legend. A whirlwind of emotions from hilarity to sorrow..a must watch

It is difficult to be objective about a film which has become as trendy to revere as, say, early Glastonbury or anti Vietnam War protests. For an uninformed child born any time after the invention of, for example, dark Bat Man movies and smart phones, it probably seems as inexplicable and as unwatchable as Chopra's Deewaar or Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin - but yet... for anyone with an eye to the sixties and a bit of soul, it is an evocative, touching and - let's be honest - very silly adventure which occasionally hits the heights of comedy genius. There is almost no plot but the characters compensate for this with some great performances and - again, let's be honest - some wonderful dialogue and brilliant one liners. With the exception of the eponymous "I" (once known as Marwood?), each of the main performers delivers something joyful. Context is crucial, of course, but my favourite lines are:Drug Dealer Danny: If I medicined you, you'd think a brain tumour was a birthday present.Drug Dealer Danny: All hairdressers are in the employment of the government.Uncle Monty: Flowers are essentially tarts. Prostitutes for the bees. There is, you'll agree, a certain 'je ne sais quoi' oh so very special about a firm, young carrot.Uncle Monty: It is the most shattering experience of a young man's life when one morning he awakes and quite reasonably says to himself, "I will never play the Dane."Withnail: We want the finest wines available to humanity. And we want them here, and we want them now!Withnail: I assure you I'm not, officer. Honestly. I've only had a few ales.In the end, the film almost descends into tragedy with the cowardly and egotistical Withnail playing the Dane ("I have of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth...") in the pouring rain and the unprepared viewer is left amused, bemused and almost inexplicably saddened. Overall, then, certainly worth investing a couple of hours in what is a minor classic - but don't try and play the drinking game!

Oddball film but I liked it, acting was superb!Great value

I don't think you'd get away with making a film like this nowadays. It's irreverent, it's funny, it's offensive (on so many levels) and it's wonderful. Richard E Grant (in his first film) and Paul McGann aimlessly wander through this film in a state of squalor and inebriation and encounter the brilliant Richard Griffiths along the way. All three actors hold this film together with ease even though the characters they play are not your usual cinematic types. If you're easily offended (and many are nowadays) then this film is definitely not for you. It was made in 1987, was written and directed by Bruce Robinson and features and excellent soundtrack too. It's set in the late 60's and is about two actors who are desperate for work. The script is chock full of brilliant one liners and observations and is also full of laughs that at times one wouldn't expect. It's an absolutely wonderful film and a joy to behold with its unabashed use of expletives and dodgy characters. A film that's not for the kids or grandma but for a select few that appreciate the finer films in life, a good drink and a ruddy good swear! It's a utter and complete cult of a film. 10 out of 10

The plot is secondary. It really doesn't matter. It's of no real consequence any more than Holden Caulfield's wanderings along the streets of New York in search of his 'truth'.Small works of artistic genius denotating cultural moments in time of a country are rare. Withnail and I written by Bruce Robinson is set in the late 1960's and was released as a film in 1987. Financing was complicated, assisted by Paul Heller, American Producer and George Harrison. Denis O'Brian (who didn't think much of the script) oversaw filming on behalf of HandMade Films and cost £1.1M. Bruce Robinson spent £30k of his £80k fee on addition filming that HomeMade Films never reimbursed him for.Plot: Two English young men with aspirations of acting careers living off unemployment benefit in the squalor of a dingy London flat go off in search of escapism to a house in the countryside for a few days, only to be followed by their rich, rotund homosexual benefactor who owns the house.As with Salinger's Catcher, Bruce Robinson had played around with his 'two struggling actors and a rich fat gay' theme for sometime. His secret was the screenwriting coupled with sublime casting that almost didn't happen! Paul McGann was axed for his Liverpudlian accent but reinvited back. Daniel Day Lewis and Bill Nighy were considered for the part of Withnail but what a joy that the relatively unknown actor Richard E Grant got the part instead.The joy of this movie is probably it's very Englishness which does not travel well with viewers from other continents. But who the hell cares. There's enough Hollywood crap spewing from over the pond.This quazi tragic comedy duo of no-hopers believing, or just about believing, in their destiny holds a strange irony that one of them may indeed succeed as an actor is, at the end of the film, quite indearing. But the interplay of these intelligent drop-outs coupled with the 'drooling eyes' of their gay benefactor lifts the whole play to a new level, quite unique to cinematic viewing. A shame these unique scripts rarely see the light of day due to uncertain financial returns. However the financial worth of films if this ilk often extend over 50 years which is far longer than most.Congratulations to all those involved in the acting and making of the film.

Haven’t seen this since the mid 90’s and it’s just as good (if not better) as I remembered. Arrow definitely did the film justice with this Blu-Ray edition and new 2K scan. Criterion released a standard DVD of the film in the states a number of years back but that’s long out of print and will cost you just as much, if not more, new or second hand as this Arrow Blu-Ray upgrade. US buyers be aware, you’ll need an All-Region player for this disc as it’s Zone B and encoded for the European market only. Besides that, another score for Arrrow!

Only after popping this film I realized I'd watched large chunks of it a long time ago. If it's brilliance however, eluded the nineteen-year old me, I was completely captivated by it today.Let me explain: the characters as well as their drives are completely humane, but you get the feel that their place in the world is completely alien, be that so in Ghana, New York or Camden Town. These men don't fit in, so they have each other and the wider resolute fringes of society. The predicament all these characters are on resonated with me and my own place in the world today, maybe not as a paranoid-depressive ocd alcoholic man, but somewhere along a kindred-spirit type of situation.All the performances are great. Even the side characters will stick with you long after the film ends. With their story so ends an age, a point made well.The blu-ray is a single disc edition, with gorgeous restored image and a few extras (such as a documentary), however there are only subtitles in English for the hard of hearing, which for me is fine but could be a drawback for some potential viewers due to some of the colloquialisms in some segments of the film.All in all, a very British masterpiece.

E' la storia di due amici che decidono di andare in campagna e rilassarsi.Tale desiderio purtroppo si rivela molto difficile e dopo innumerevoli brutti incontri e incubi, i due se ne tornano felicinella grande citta'.Non mi e' pero' sembrato un grande film...

One of the funniest British made films ever! Richard E Grant is insanely mad & hilarious. I love this movie. It's crazy but with intelligent, witty dialogue. I'm in my 60s, if you were IN the 60s-70s and even if you weren't and are young, it's about youth, bingeing, struggling actors, madness & mayhem, life upsidedown, but not ' thupid' just hilarity at its best. I always mention this movie, most have never heard of it.

ok++