Withnail and I

[Flash Gordon]

Here's a funny one.

Don't get put off by the students.

Why is this such a classic?

[ClaudineJones]

Re: Withnail and I

It has so many memorable quotes and no matter how many times I watch it they never get less funny. R.E.G was perfectly cast, can't imagine anyone else playing Withnail. One of my top 5 films .

[rossobantam]

Re: Withnail and I

Didn't I see on the news last weeek that the farm where it was shot is up for sale?

[branny]

Re: Withnail and I

It's a while since i've seen it. I'll have to watch it again.

[ClaudineJones]

Re: Withnail and I

Didn't I see on the news last weeek that the farm where it was shot is up for sale?

Yes...but it has the sort of windows faces look in at

[zargon]

Re: Withnail and I

I think the farm is in Cumbria and as said is up for sale. Read an article a few months ago which pointed out that fans went there as a kind of ritual (much like people go to Salford Lads Club in Manchester due to the Smiths)

As for the film , so many things to quote ,my fave : 'We want the finest wines available to humanity, we want them here and we want them now'

Only saw this film a couple of years ago but it's a corker.

[Flash Gordon]

Re: Withnail and I

Uncle Monty's cottage?
Bruce Robinson's dialogue is sharp as...
But there's something very poignant about this film.

[frame]

Re: Withnail and I

I have this on video but not yet watched it.

[Derekflint]

Re: Withnail and I

A beauty of a film. The bit where they're in the bed together because they think Uncle Monty's entrance is a break in by a murderous local...

And two lines in particular:
We've come on holiday by mistake!

I mean to have you, even if it means burglary!

[ridski]

Re: Withnail and I

There are a lot of comedy movies out there that are described as having "a heart". Withnail & I is one of the few that also has what I can only describe as a soul.

It's a kind of mid-20s coming of age story, really, hiding under all that boozing and carrot smoking. At the beginning, they're both spinning out of control, but Marlow (the "I" of the title, whose name is never mentioned) somehow manages to get it together and has to leave his friend behind. As someone who did once dream of being an actor, Withnail's realization that he was too old to play Hamlet and the soliloquy to the wolves in Regent's Park at the end never fails to bring a tear to my eye.

But that's usually because I've been playing the Withnail & I drinking game and I'm all sloshed and sentimental by that time.

So yeah, all the above. Wicked performances, a killer quotable script, and a great debut directorial performance. That's why it's such a classic. That, and it has one of the best uses of Hendrix put to celluloid.

"What are you doing?!"
"Making time!"

[Derekflint]

Re: Withnail and I

That scene with the wolves is beautiful - at that point you realise that Withnail is far from what his friend thinks he is. Sure, he's a surly drunk, but also a powerful soul.

And his smile when he's caught with the washing up bottle full of whizz is perfect.

[sixtyten]

Re: Withnail and I

Watching this at the moment..utterly classic

[mazzer]

Re: Withnail and I

I'm going to make myself very unpopular here, but I consider W & I to be overrated. A bit too smug and self-regarding for my liking. Sorry!
(I do love the tea-room scene though, McGann especially, with his dopey drink smile!)