Starring Paul Mccann as Marwood and Richard E Grant as the unforgettable Withnail. The name Withnail comes from a friend Bruce Robinson had as a teenager. Robinson was never good at spelling and contently wrote the name withnall as withnail.
This film was written and directed by a then unknown Bruce Robinson, and tells a story of two struggling actors in the mid 1970’s. They devise a plan to get out of the city for peace of mind and to breathe the country air. Persuading his perverted Uncle Monty(played by Harry Potters step father Richard Griffiths) to borrow his cabin for the weekend, Withnail and Marwood have a dream of drinking their sorrows away. This all comes to a crashing halt as they realise that the country isn’t the beautiful scenic retreat they have planned. With strange locals and no food or warmth, before long they are both scared to death whilst trying to avoid the sexual advances of Monty.
This film was the launching pad for actors Richard E Grant and Paul Mccann, both having only done theatre work prior to being cast in the film. They are now both seen as royalty within the British film industry and have gone onto starring in countless films and television shows with both Richard and Paul having even starred as Doctor Who, Paul being the 8th doctor and Richard being the 9th.
The score is a strong point as well, being released in 1987, this film has an authentic 70’s soundtrack including the likes of Jimi Hendrix and George Harrison.
A funny thing to note is that it was this film that pushed Jimi Hendrix’s estate to finally take control over his songs, due to the fact that they were sick of his music being associated with drug and alcohol culture.
Throughout the production of the film, there were more obstacles than they could ever imagine and it’s a marvel that the film was finished at all.
Richard E Grants daughter for example, who was born prematurely, died half way though filming and cast and crew said that the intensity of his performance rocketed through the roof.
The original test screening was an absolute disaster as well, Bruce sat in the back of the theatre in shock as nobody in the entire audience laughed throughout the entire movie, it was only after the film that he realised that they were all German tourists who had been rounded up from a hotel next door.
Withnail & I has a legacy behind it, yes there is a drinking game associated with this film. But I tell you this much, Don’t try to go shot for shot with Withnail, you will fail, you will fail so hard that you won’t be able to stand up for a few days.
Withnail and I is one of the smartest and funniest films you will ever see.
5/5 Wellington boots (Liam)