I had of course heard of this film but somehow I'd managed to avoid watching it until today... having just finished watching it I must say I regret waiting so long; it is the funniest film I've seen for a long time. The laughs don't come from gags and slapstick but from a genuinely witty script delivered brilliantly by Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann as their characters struggle to find food and a way to keep warm in London and later in a farmhouse near Penrith... somehow they don't have a problem acquiring alcohol or drugs.
Set at the end of the 1960s the film follows the lives of two out of work actors; Withnail played by Richard E. Grant and the unnamed narrator (I) played by Paul McGann. They live in a squalid north London flat where they are cold and hungry. They have the idea to go out of town for a bit and talk Witgnail's uncle Monty into letting them stay in his farm house in the Lake District. When they get there it is pouring with rain, they have no food or firewood. Their attempts go feed themselves include dealing with a live chicken, a run in with the local poacher and hunting for eels with a shot gun... all laugh out loud scenes which all manage to seem like something that might happen rather than something included as a gag. It seems that they are saved when Uncle Marty turns up and provides food... unfortunately he has come up because he has taken a liking to I and is determined to bed him.
The film has a great cast all of whom deliver their lines perfectly, even minor roles are memorable. Normally when I watch a comedy alone I just smile or occasionally giggle at the funny scenes but here I found myself laughing out loud many times. Like many great comedies there is an feeling that it could easily switch to tragedy.
If you haven't seen this already don't delay like I did, watch it at the first chance you get.
Set at the end of the 1960s the film follows the lives of two out of work actors; Withnail played by Richard E. Grant and the unnamed narrator (I) played by Paul McGann. They live in a squalid north London flat where they are cold and hungry. They have the idea to go out of town for a bit and talk Witgnail's uncle Monty into letting them stay in his farm house in the Lake District. When they get there it is pouring with rain, they have no food or firewood. Their attempts go feed themselves include dealing with a live chicken, a run in with the local poacher and hunting for eels with a shot gun... all laugh out loud scenes which all manage to seem like something that might happen rather than something included as a gag. It seems that they are saved when Uncle Marty turns up and provides food... unfortunately he has come up because he has taken a liking to I and is determined to bed him.
The film has a great cast all of whom deliver their lines perfectly, even minor roles are memorable. Normally when I watch a comedy alone I just smile or occasionally giggle at the funny scenes but here I found myself laughing out loud many times. Like many great comedies there is an feeling that it could easily switch to tragedy.
If you haven't seen this already don't delay like I did, watch it at the first chance you get.