Kat's Film Reviews: Withnail & I

Sunday, October 31, 2004

Withnail & I

A few of the featurettes included on this DVD looked intriguing, so I flipped through some of them. But when I reached the one describing how the producers wanted to pull the plug on the film a week in and the director is bemusedly explaining this is because they thought the film wasn't funny, I snorted and turned it off. Damn straight this film isn't funny. The word I would use is excruciating. There is maximum one very funny scene (the one with the bull), but the rest of the film is unintelligible, and that has nothing to do with the British accents. Ostensibly the story of two friends in the 1960s who decide they need a vacation from their daily grind, consisting of desperately trying out for theatrical productions, the film meanders from one boring soliloquy to the next, interspersed with dialogue that has nothing to do with the plot (what plot?). It's also offensive to gay people, in its assumption that gays are natural predators. If you make it to the end, I'd be happy if you'd let me know what it was all about (like I said, what plot?). The only reason it gets that extra 1/2 point rating is because I adore watching Richard E. Grant do his stuff. Who cares if he's impossible to understand? It's his attitude and aura that are entrancing.

year: 1987
length: 107 min.
rating: 1.5
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094336/combined

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