Withnail & I is in a class of it's own. I know of no other film whose entire script is quoted ad infinitum by those addicted to the fabulous language. There are no jokes as such, just one memorable line after another. We all have our favourites and you can find many of them on the message boards. But it is the delivery that makes this stuff work so well. The ensemble cast work a particular kind of magic together that is sheer perfection. The characters come to life in such a vivid fashion that you really know these people. Richard E Grant gives an outstanding performance as Withnail, this is the sort of performance that should be rewarded with an oscar, not the kind of rubbish that the Academy usually praise. Paul McGann is the straight man that provides the anchor to the whole film. Richard Griffiths' Uncle Monty is just so brilliantly portrayed. His wonderful lines delivered with perfection. Such moments as "as a boy I used to weep in butchers shops" and "flowers are essentially tarts, prostitutes for the bees" will live forever. In amongst all of this hilarity is an underlying feeling of elegaic regret and despair for lives that have never quite reached their expectations, hopes that have been frequently dashed. As Danny says, they have failed to paint it black. The final scene in Regents Park is almost too much to bear, as Marwood leaves Withnail quoting Hamlet to the caged wolves in the zoo. You realise that it's not funny anymore.A new era dawns for Withnail and us.
Review of Withnail & I
