Thing about Richard E. Grant is he doesn't seem to be able to get part re-playing - and re-playing and re-playing - the character he played in "Withnail & I" and "How to Get Ahead in Advertising" - both of which are classics.
Withnail was in 1987 - Grant's first film - and How to Get Ahead in Advertising was in 1989 - that's over 30 yrs ago and Grant has made over 100 movies since then - but in every scenario, no matter how unsuited, he's always Withnail.
So what is the Withnail character - well, it's a frenzied Brit who is interminably bemused by the circumstances in which he in interminably incongruous.
And in Withnail and How to Get Ahead - he had a perfect fit with.writer/director Bruce Robinson - who had the "Benny Hill" sensibility of that era in Brit comedy to a tee - sharp dialogue, hilarious nonsensical narratives, etc etc.
So with Robinson, although Grant played basically the same character, the settings were completely different - in Withnail, he's a dispossessed 60's London gad-about and in "Getting Ahead" he's a slick 1980's advertising exec - but Robinson makes it work in both cases without seeming to be repetitive.
Without Robinson, or a script/director of similar wit and panache - Grant is lost and is like a audio clip that just keeps skipping and repeating.
In this offering, Grant has nowhere near a Robinson level story or script or cast of supporting actors - and, consequently, it's just a below mediocre mash with Grant flopping around being bemused but definitely not amusing.
Well, there it is ...
Withnail was in 1987 - Grant's first film - and How to Get Ahead in Advertising was in 1989 - that's over 30 yrs ago and Grant has made over 100 movies since then - but in every scenario, no matter how unsuited, he's always Withnail.
So what is the Withnail character - well, it's a frenzied Brit who is interminably bemused by the circumstances in which he in interminably incongruous.
And in Withnail and How to Get Ahead - he had a perfect fit with.writer/director Bruce Robinson - who had the "Benny Hill" sensibility of that era in Brit comedy to a tee - sharp dialogue, hilarious nonsensical narratives, etc etc.
So with Robinson, although Grant played basically the same character, the settings were completely different - in Withnail, he's a dispossessed 60's London gad-about and in "Getting Ahead" he's a slick 1980's advertising exec - but Robinson makes it work in both cases without seeming to be repetitive.
Without Robinson, or a script/director of similar wit and panache - Grant is lost and is like a audio clip that just keeps skipping and repeating.
In this offering, Grant has nowhere near a Robinson level story or script or cast of supporting actors - and, consequently, it's just a below mediocre mash with Grant flopping around being bemused but definitely not amusing.
Well, there it is ...