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Withnail and I - Criterion Collection

Withnail and I - Criterion Collection

List Price: $29.95
Your Price: $23.96
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "If I spike you, you'll know you've been spoken to."
Review: This is actor/filmwriter Bruce Robineson first movie to write and direct. He won an Oscar for his script on "The Killing Feilds" and his talent of wit and diolouge gets a work out here.

Grant plays Withnail with such charm and crisma you'll love to hate him but hate to love him. "I" is played by Paul McGann wonderfully also.

This movie is a british cult comedy classic. The script and the acting realy hold this movie to gether. Upon eatch veiwing you will find more and more and pick up on other jokes you have missed.

This DVD is worth every penny. If you liked Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas you will love this...this movie is slightly more enjoyable then "...Vegas" because the 2 charecters in the movie are friends not just a pair of drugies.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Jounery into madness
Review: Scene by scene "Withnail and I" take's you to the theatre with out leaving your chair. A very funny film, a great insight into human relationships at there best/worst.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "My thumbs have gone weird."
Review: Somewhere in the tenebrous recesses of our souls is the saving ability to laugh in recognition at our most forlorn circumstances. The funniest films mine this trove of despairing exigencies in an urgent, played-for-real mode. And none do it better than WITHNAIL & I, now available in a superb uncut version on DVD.

Bruce Robinson, the sometime actor and screenwriter ("The Killing Fields"), made his 1986 directorial debut with his semi-autobiographical screenplay that is widely considered the greatest neglected comedy of all time. The slender plot is simple. Flatmates Richard E. Grant (Withnail) and Paul McGann (& I) are two stoned, hungry, broke, and out-of-work actors wallowing in self-made squalor. When they get an opportunity to spend a weekend in the country cottage of Withnail's three hundred pound Uncle Montague, they go, hoping to "rejuvenate." What ensues is an extraordinarily deranged weekend of drunken delusion and distraught discovery that you will never forget. To reveal any more story details would be a gross disservice to those who have not yet found this wonderfully twisted, honest and perfect film.

Richard Griffiths is unsettling as the campy, dissolute predator cousin Montague and Ralph Brown is spot-on as Danny, the slow-talking, menacing but philosophical dope dealer. Hard to believe this was Richard E. Grant's first film. Even harder to believe is that he is a non-drinker who doesn't smoke.

Perfectly cast, every spoken line is unmitigated and most are quotable -- especially the caustic diatribes of drunken, acerbic Grant. And the scenes themselves are brilliant set-pieces that unfold like diamonds in the rough being cut to gem-stone perfection.

After experiencing this unblinking look back at the end of the 60s in a London suburb where a tenuous friendship, high expectations and unfulfilled dreams collide during a disastrous weekend getaway, you too will laugh when you next hear the opening riffs of Jimmy Hendrix's "Voodoo Child." And you will understand when someone blurts out in a restaurant, "The finest wines known to humanity. And cake."

This new Criterion widescreen version is clean and sharp and there's a too-short bonus interview with Robinson, Brown, Grant and McGann.

You must trust me on this one, so right now, get on line and order this movie. It's one to own and watch at least once a month. It will put everything in the proper perspective and cure what ails you. No need to thank me. Highest recommendation.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: This is a trap stay away.
Review: If you are one of those who entered the imdb.com recommended link and ended up here looking for a comedy or even anything remotely entertaining then I can promisse you that buying this or its sister movie will leave you disapointed. And I feel that it is my duty to warn you. Comon, drinking lighterfluid and rolling megajoints hasnt been funny for over thirty years, not since the days of the Big Bamboo record, with which this movies atmosphere bears no resemblance at all. Gay people, farmers, villagers, drunks, poacher, stoned people, dirty dishes, weekend in the country, DUI, contry animals, if this makes you amused and happy then go ahead, I completely missed the point. Two drunks rolling over each other and a weekend with their gay uncle in the contry. There, I just saved you 25 bucks.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: If You Want Blood, You've Got Blood
Review: Anybody finding out about "Withnail and I" for the first time-SEE THIS MOVIE! This is one of the only movies made in the 80's that captures the zeitgeist of late 60's London. Bruce Robinson's semi-autobiographical tale of out-of-work actors tickles any fun-loving human's wicker-soiled funnybone. These guys go gardening up-country and come up with a Camberwell Carrot. Essential viewing for grads and cats.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: HOPES, ILLUSIONS AND DELUSIONS
Review: Another cult movie has just entered the Criterion collection : british writer-director Bruce Robinson's 1986 WITHNAIL AND I starring Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann, both excellent. Richard Griffith as the cousin Montague and Ralph Brown as " The Hippie Philosopher " are hilarious. This film is a valuable addition to your library if you like english comedies, the sixties or simply a smart movie.

WITHNAIL AND I is greatly autobiographical. Bruce Robinson's 25 minutes interview featuring home movies and photographies shot in London in the mid-sixties is very instructive ; one understands soon that Withnail and ("I") Peter's life pictured in the movie has been the normal life of a large number of the english teenagers of the sixties. The character of "Withnail" played by an hallucinated Richard E. Grant, who in the real life doesn't drink alcoholic beverages, will certainly stay in the annals of Movie History.

If WITHNAIL AND I moves us so much, it's because this nostalgic movie is about lost hopes, about the green pastures of our youth when the world was ready to be conquered and waiting for us. Withnail is a pathetic character who could have been a genius in any artistic domain but who didn't create anything because, after all, it wasn't so important.

Apart of the Bruce Robinson interview ( look carefully at the level of the red wine in his glass... ), one will also find in this Criterion presentation a limited-edition of a poster, a theatrical trailer, liner notes by Robinson, various pre-production photos and english subtitles.

A DVD zone nostalgy.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of my favourite films of all time
Review: Criterion has done a wonderful job with this DVD release of WITHNAIL & I. The picture looks sharp, the sound is clear, and the extras are a lot of fun. The biggest difference for me was that the only video version of this film I owned was the full-screen version that contains numerous edits. Watching this film uncut for the first time in years really pointed out how much I had been missing with the video version. Getting this DVD is definitely worth the money.

The film itself is a joy to experience. While the plot cannot be accused of being overcomplicated, this simplicity is more than made up for in the wonderful characters and brilliant dialogue (virtually none of which can be quoted in an all-ages forum such as this). Loosely narrated by Paul McGann's "I" character, this film depicts a brief period in the life of two struggling actors as they attempt to find booze, drugs and jobs in the dying days of the 1960s. The movie covers a wide spectrum from some scenes featuring the funniest lines that you'll ever hear to small touching moments that are surprisingly moving. This is highly recommended to anyone who enjoys good moviemaking.

Every character in the picture is superbly acted and written for. It's a testament to Bruce Robinson's directing skills that the characters compliment each other so well instead of clashing and overbearing the others as could so easily have happened. The secondary characters work as well as the leads and each one adds their unique flavour to the mixture. Robinson doesn't make the mistake of giving the smaller parts too much on-screen time and having them overstay their welcome. Each character says and does no more than they need to and leaves everyone wanting more.

Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann are perfectly cast in their roles. Each bile-covered insult roles off of Grant's tongue as if he'd been swearing at McGann all his life. It's amazing that Grant is a teetotaler in real life and was relying on pure skill for most of his inspiration. Excellent acting.

The documentary that is included on the DVD is 30 minutes long and quite excellent. There are interviews with Richard E. Grant (Withnail), Paul McGann (...& I), Bruce Robinson (writer/director), Ralph Brown (Danny) and a host of other people related to the production. It's a funny and enthralling look at the people and ideas behind the film. Just fast-forward through the trainspotters.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Withnail = Genius. Leonard Maltin = Muppet
Review: This film is simply superb and is one of the few films you can and will watch again and again with it getting funnier each time. It has the best dialogue of any movie I have ever seen. I find Leonard Maltins (who he?) review above quite remarkable. How on earth did the one guy on the planet who doesn't like this film get to do the official review on Amazon? 'some amusing moments'??? err, yes, one or too Leonard, no custard pies or explosions though so maybe that's your problem.

Anyway, ignore him (unless of course you think Steven Segal is REALLY REALLY GOOD), and read the reviews by the people below, and no doubt the ones to come above this. They know. Buy it.

... and I resisted using a single quote from the movie! and that's harder to do than you may think.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Honestly officer, I've only had a few ales...
Review: What can I say? All of the stars in the cosmos can't rate this film...beats anything British I've ever seen. I guess when I first started reading these reviews, I thought I had the cut version, but then someone talked about the thumbs I knew I had the full one (thank the good Lord in Heaven above!).

Anyway, unlike most of the Americans in the reviews I've read, I can't laugh while I'm watching it because I'm utterly captivated by the use of the English language in the acting and the slang that is used (brilliant is right). I fear that I might miss something if I start to laugh (ok, I laughed at the cat). Monty Python are schoolboys compared to this. I can just watch it over and over, like it's a captivating, exotic woman. You can't stop listening, nor can you look away. You never get tired of it. There's always something slightly different to see and new meanings to discern. Anyone who knows "Withnail and I" knows what I'm talking about. What's more, there's nothing silly about it. Why give it away? Watch it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Thank God its on DVD
Review: If you're reading this you probably haven't seen the movie. If you appreciate black comedy (or any comedy that's vaguely British) you're sure to want this DVD.

This is the role that made Richard E Grant what he is today. My collection is currently 70 DVD's strong, and I rate this in my top 5 favorites.

I hope that says it all.


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