Camden Town, the arse-end of the sixties. Two struggling, unemployed actors decide some respite is in order and so depart their miserable flat for a week in the Lake District ? one that will involve rain, booze, minimal supplies, a randy bull and an even randier Uncle Monty. Based on the real-life experiences of former actor turned writer/director Bruce Robinson, WITHNAIL and I has become one of British cinema?s most fondly remembered comedies. A cult film in the truest sense that has also become a classic. Perfectly cast ? with career-defining roles for Richard E. Grant, Paul McGann, Richard Griffiths and Ralph Brown ? and crammed with irresistibly quotable dialogue, WITHNAIL and I is a sheer delight, even on the umpteenth viewing.
Camden Town the arse-end of the sixties. Two struggling unemployed actors decide some respite is in order and so depart their miserable flat for a week in the Lake District – one that will involve rain booze minimal supplies a randy bull and an even randier Uncle Monty. Based on the real-life experiences of former actor turned writer/director Bruce Robinson WITHNAIL and I has become one of British cinema’s most fondly remembered comedies. A cult film in the truest sense that has also become a classic. Perfectly cast – with career-defining roles for Richard E. Grant Paul McGann Richard Griffiths and Ralph Brown – and crammed with irresistibly quotable dialogue WITHNAIL and I is a sheer delight even on the umpteenth viewing.
I first saw this film in 1987, when a friend of mine who worked at AFI in Hollywood, took me to see it. I didn't much understand it then, before I became an Anglophile. It was a bit murky and I could barely understand the dialect. But after almost 24 years, and several trips to London, I love the film now more than ever.I had returned from a trip to London in '03, and became reacquainted with the film during a few cold rainy days of repeats on some cable channel..
