Withnail & I

Another of the movies that I had noticed a couple of times on the TCM schedule, but never actually watched, is Withnail & I. I had heard good things about it, and noticed it showed up a few years on one of those critics' lists of all-time great comedies. So the most recent time that it ran on TCM, I finally made a point to record it so that I could do the obligatory post on it here.

The movie is narrated more or less by the "I" character (Paul McGann), whose name is never spoken in the movie although there's one scene where he gets a telegram suggesting that the name is Marwood, so I'll use that to keep him separate from me. Marwood is a struggling actor living in London in 1969 with his friend Withnail (Richard E. Grant), who is also a struggling actor. Withnail is also a bit of a chancer, which at times bothers Marwood. The two also have a bit of a volatile relationship in that the two of them struggle to pay the rent and even keep the apartment in a presentable state.

One day, while the two of them are talking yet again about the struggle to get gigs and the constant lack of money, Withnail's back story of having family with a bit of wealth is mentioned. Among them is Withnail's uncle Monty (Richard Griffiths). Uncle Monty has a nice place in London, but also has a vacation place up in the Lake District, so perhaps they could persuade Monty to let them use his place. Unfortunately for Marwood, Monty comes across as the stereotype of the flamboyant homosexual. In any case, Withnail convinces Uncle Monty to lend them the keys to the cottage.

So the two friends set off for the cottage, and have some trouble getting there because their car isn't in the best of shape, and they don't have good enough maps, this being 1969 and them not having good maps. No Google Street View here. Eventually they arrive and find a place that may not have electricity, and certainly doesn't hany sort of fancy heating, or any grocery stores nearby to pick up provisions. No; it's just a farmhouse almost out in the middle of nowhere, except for the other quirky people living in the area, because a movie like this just has to have quirky people living in the villages.

Marwood tries to make a go of the weekend, while Withnail gets even nastier to him. Uncle Monty shows up unannounced, with Withnail thinking it's an intruder. Monty has taken pity on them, and gives them a bit of money, although Withnail is such a jerk that he insists on spending it at the pub, while Marwood doesn't have much choice but to go along. Thankfully for him, however, he gets that telegram and the chance of a real acting job....

The big problem I had with Withnail & I is that the Withnail character is such a nasty jerk that I'd think the Marwood character would want to get away from him as soon as possible. There's this sense in a lot of movies that Withnail types are supposed to be charming and charismatic, and I suppose some of them are; Jack Carson was excellent at playing such characters in movies like Mildred Pierce. But Withnail as written isn't like that at all, making the movie more exhausting than funny at times.

As I wrote in the opening paragraph, however, Withnail & I is one of those movies that has an extremely high critical reputation, so it's definitely one of those movies that you're going to want to watch for yourself and draw your own conclusions about.