On This Day
Withnail & I released
February 12th 1988
16:10 12 February 2024
'Withnail & I' was released in UK cinemas on this day in 1988. Few films are more worthy of the title ‘cult classic’ than Bruce Robinsons’ semi-autobiographical British black comedy. 35 years on it continues to add to its growing army of loyal fans.
Camden, London, 1969. Withnail (Richard E. Grant) and Marwood (Paul McGann) are two struggling, unemployed actors sharing a squalid freezing cold flat. Existing on a diet of drink and drugs, the desperate duo decide a change of scenery is the ideal solution to their miserable predicament. Having procured the keys to a country cottage, owned by his eccentric Uncle Monty (Richard Griffiths), Withnail sets off with Marwood, in his beaten up Jaguar Mark II, for a relaxing break in the Lake District. Things inevitably do not go well for our two fish out of water, including an unexpected late night visit from Monty, who has amorous intentions towards a horrified Marwood and a run in with a local poacher, Jake (Michael Elphick). Struggling to cope with country life, their dilemma is summed up, when at one point, Withnail tells the local farmer “We’ve come on holiday by mistake” before their return to London.
Plot wise that’s pretty much it, but it’s the films performances and Robinsons’ brilliant dialogue that make it an enduring classic.
Teetotaller Grant has never been better than as the alcoholic Withnail, an iconic figure of British cinema, angry and bitter towards a world he feels is conspiring against him, he is like a man with a fork in a world of soup. McGann too is excellent as the more contemplative yet anxious Marwood. Other notable performances come from Griffiths as the lecherous Uncle Monty, Elphick as Jake the Poacher and Ralph Brown as London drug dealer, Danny.
The beauty of Robinsons’ script lies in its depiction of characters who can no more escape their situation than they can themselves. If that sounds unrelentingly bleak, hope is offered with Marwoods’ departure, after being offered the lead part in a play in Manchester and the promise of a better life.
In 1999 the B.F.I. Voted ‘Withnail & I’ the 29th greatest British film and in 2000 it was voted 3rd greatest comedy of all time by ‘Total Film’ magazine. A timeless classic of British cinema.