View Full Version : Withnail and I - It aint so good is it.
Finally got around to watching this at the weekend having bought it agaes ago from Play.
What is all the fuss about? It is only occasionally mildly funny and there is little else to hold interest.
A product of its time that has not aged too well perhaps.
Or is it just me?
Anybody want to trade it :)
Sb
Tyler Durden
30-07-2002, 13:35
I guess it very much depends on wheter you've ever been a student or unemployed.
Just Call Me Wanda
30-07-2002, 13:36
I love it! Funny throughout and gets funnier with every viewing.
Originally posted by ought
What is all the fuss about? It is only occasionally mildly funny and there is little else to hold interest.
Sb
:eek:
Michael Brooke
30-07-2002, 13:54
I saw it when it came out, having just escaped from a domestic situation not a million miles removed from the one in the film, and I have honestly never laughed as hard at a film before or since - I didn't quite manage to literally fall off my seat (as my flatmate did), but it came pretty close at times.
Even more miraculously, it still works for me a dozen viewings later - not least because Bruce Robinson's script is such a marvel. Has there been another British comedy since <I>Kind Hearts and Coronets</I> with such an amazingly acute ear for the comic possibilities of the English language? And, more to the point, has there been another one since <I>Withnail</I>? I honestly can't think of anything that comes even vaguely close.
Dan Druff
30-07-2002, 14:04
First time I saw it (on VHS) I felt the same as ought, but it left something lingering in my brain, then I saw it on TV, then I bought the DVD..Richard E. Grant is superb (especially as he's a teetotaller in real life!)..it's all hugely enjoyable.
'PONCE!'
Richard E Grant is supoib in this - utterly fabulous. So many great, great scenes and very 'quotable'.
EdgeOfVictory
30-07-2002, 18:15
I'm a student and I've tried watching it twice, but I just can't get into it. I think it's to do with Richard E Grant, I'm not a fan at all. And I know I should watch it all the way through but I can't!
KeyserSoze
30-07-2002, 18:36
well, ive seen it, quite a while ago and i would love to see it again, but at the time i couldnt see what the fuss was about either.
but remember comedy is a very personal thing, what one person finds extremely funny may not be funny to someone else.
Vinyl-Pants
30-07-2002, 18:56
Yeah, too right - I mean some people find Kevin Smith films funny??!?!?
For the record I thought Withnail and I was superb, definately a 'grower' and a film you can wack on at any time and enjoy.
grounded_dreams
30-07-2002, 21:00
This is a superb film, with some classic quotable lines:
"Free to those that can afford it, very expensive to those that can't."
"We want the finest wines available to humanity, we want them here, and we want them now!"
"Come on lads, let's get home, the sky's beginning to bruise, night must fall and we shall be forced to camp."
The best way to watch it, is to play the game where you try and match Waithnail and I drink for drink - extremely hard to do btw - but fun :)
Arch Stanton
30-07-2002, 21:48
Originally posted by Michael Brooke
Has there been another British comedy since <I>Kind Hearts and Coronets</I> with such an amazingly acute ear for the comic possibilities of the English language? And, more to the point, has there been another one since <I>Withnail</I>? I honestly can't think of anything that comes even vaguely close.
Sir, you forget 'Holiday on the Buses'.
Michael Brooke
30-07-2002, 23:03
Originally posted by Arch Stanton
Sir, you forget 'Holiday on the Buses'.
You're quite right - but that's on a completely different plane to a mere comedy, I feel.
A wonderful film - but I accept it may be an acquired taste. Withnail is annoying, but that's partly the point !
campdave
31-07-2002, 10:38
I saw it for the first time at the weekend, and it's definitely up there as one of the best films I've ever seen.
Michael Brooke
31-07-2002, 13:17
One of the reasons I think it's such an emotionally resonant film (as well as a great one) is that it's one of the best examples of one of the few themes that we English really do do better than almost anyone else: failure, and the paralysing fear of failure that inhibits any really realistic attempt at achieving anything.
One of the most poignant moments in the film comes relatively early on, when Uncle Monty ruefully speaks of the shattering realisation that "I shall never play the Dane" (i.e. Hamlet). It's a hilarious image - this gigantic man-mountain lamenting the fact that he'll never play one of the more athletic, youthful and virile parts in the acting repertory - but it's also an immensely sad one, and that sadness suffuses the film as a whole (and the final sequence explicitly harks back to it).
I agree with Mike that Withnail is annoying - though I'm equally sure that this is entirely intentional - but underlying almost everything he says and does is the clear realisation that he's no good at what he wants to do and he never will be any good, especially as he's rapidly approaching thirty. His prodigious drinking and drug-taking is linked to this as well - he's never happier than when he's managed to blot out the real world.
As with Monty, he has a wonderful line that encapsulates his basic credo: "Look at that - accident black spot! Those aren't accidents - they're throwing themselves into the road gladly! Throwing themselves in the road to escape all this hideousness!". Again, it's laugh-out-loud funny, but at base it's as bleak as anything you'll find in Kafka and Beckett (mind you, those writers can often be very funny in a similar way, something often overlooked in the rush to pigeonhole them as existential gloom merchants).
So to reply to this thread's title: yes, it is that good - and the more I think about it the better it gets!
wolfkiller
31-07-2002, 15:28
As I'm sat looking out my window at the teeming rain on another British summer's day I can't help but think of Withnail and I.
All I need is a couple of whiskies and a Camberwell Carrot.
APPRIA40WR
31-07-2002, 15:48
Wonderful film.
I don't go in for the whole you-had-to-have-been-there argument for liking/not liking Withnail & I. I don't identify with any of it one iota - never having lived in squalor (even as a student) and never being too fond of illegal substances (again, even as a student!)
And I still think it's one of the all time greats. In my top five Brit flicks - easily.
Originally posted by McD
I don't go in for the whole you-had-to-have-been-there argument for liking/not liking Withnail & I. I don't identify with any of it one iota - never having lived in squalor (even as a student) and never being too fond of illegal substances (again, even as a student!)
Agreed. It's like saying you have to be a footballing POW to like Escape To Victory :)
Or a child genius to like Rushmore. :)
Or a soldier to like any war film :)
or...etc
Michael Brooke
31-07-2002, 23:54
Originally posted by McD
I don't go in for the whole you-had-to-have-been-there argument for liking/not liking Withnail & I. I don't identify with any of it one iota - never having lived in squalor (even as a student) and never being too fond of illegal substances (again, even as a student!)
My most recent viewing was in the company of someone who <U>was</U> there - i.e. living in London as a student with artistic pretensions in a grotty bedsit in the late Sixties - and he didn't like it at all.
Unfortunately, he completely misunderstood Robinson's highly stylised dialogue as being an attempt at realism, and insisted that people never talked like that - which wasn't exactly news to me, but apparently this is a fatal flaw in the film. I understand Restoration comedy is similarly flawed.
BlueDwarf
01-08-2002, 00:30
I was underwhelemed when I finally got round to see it, as I was expecting some kind of British masterpiece. Taking that away and judging it on its own merits, I found it terribly dull. A couple of losers getting drunk. Yawn. I think what really puts me off the films is all the student dullards that keep quoting from it.
I guess it can depend on the mood you're in when you watch it as well. Personally I liked it though I wouldn't say it was my all time favourite comedy. I've only watched it once though so I don't feel greatly qualified. I reckon I'll enjoy it more 2nd time round just like I did with The Big Lebowski and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
Gethinnadin
04-08-2002, 23:34
He's gone in your room - he's after you. Offer him yourself!
I was ******* myself! :lol:
another partial viewing on Saturday night after coming in slightly worse for wear - it's a veritable classic!!
omega man
07-08-2002, 18:28
'we come on holiday by mistake'
'SCRUBBERS'
'GET IN THE BACK OF THE VAN!'
'cool you boots man........if i medicined you. you think a brain tumor was a birthday present'
I understand Restoration comedy is similarly flawed.
Christ, that's reminded me of three of the funniest quotes I've ever heard, from Lord Foppington in The Relapse.
"He really is a most im-pudent fellow!"
"Split me windpipe!"
"Stab me vitals!"
overated - drink like they do in the film - then you will like it.
otherwise its poor, with mr wooden - Paul Mcgan (or however you spell it) and other weirdo bloke.
I wont waste 90 mins again.
Tiffany Bradford
09-08-2002, 15:36
Originally posted by Mike
but I accept it may be an acquired taste.
Very acquired :oh-hum:
I really like McGann and Grant, but I wasn't doubled over with laughter - shame really, as everyone else seems to rhapsodise about it. :sad:
Yeah but Tiff, you've already got a handicap when it comes to the film through being American, and if you're not surrounded by that kind of vernacular, you're bound not to find it as funny.
Tiffany Bradford
09-08-2002, 16:52
Originally posted by Narshty
you've already got a handicap when it comes to the film through being American
Being American is a handicap? Never thought of it that way, but yes, especially here. :D
Welcome Back Jon!! Big hug to you!
Still wish I understood Withnail and I though :sad:
Michael Brooke
09-08-2002, 16:52
I have to agree here - the film had a notorious test screening that went down like a lead balloon because much of the audience turned out to be made up of German exchange students. Bruce Robinson was livid, as he knew better than anyone that unless English is your native language, you're just not going to find it funny (he felt sorry for the students more than anything!).
He later had a conversation about the film with a French friend of his whose English was to all intents and purposes flawless, and the cultural gap was still immense - the line "we've gone on holiday by mistake", which I think is one of the funniest in the film, was totally incomprehensible, as the mere concept that anyone would go on holiday by mistake was utterly baffling to a Frenchman. I tried this experiment myself with a couple (one English, one Italian) who hadn't seen the film - the English person got the line immediately and its comic sense, while the Italian was completely flummoxed.
And I'd go further than Robinson - for full appreciation, you don't just have to be a native English speaker, you have to be a native <U>English</U> English speaker. Some of the biggest laughs come from nuances so subtle that they demand total immersion in the culture as well as the language.
the thing with no name
09-08-2002, 18:47
one of the funniest films ever.
Totally agree with Michael about the whole 'darkness' to the theme of it. Its the most funny, yet depressing in an uplifting way, film I have ever seen (if that all sounds impossibly confusing then I have described it exactly correctly)
Cannot recommend it enough. :notworthy :notworthy :notworthy
George vader
10-08-2002, 12:53
A huge Camberwell Carrot sized thumbs up!!!!!
Pistol Pete
10-08-2002, 16:19
"aarrghhh my thumb's have gone weird!" :smokin:
I thought it was amusing rather than laught out loud funny. I'd heared so much about it from friends that perhaps I was expecting too much from it.
Originally posted by Michael Brooke
"we've gone on holiday by mistake
Well I am a native English speaker who loves the language and its use and abuse, but I fail to see why that line is so amusing?
Umm?
Sb
Michael Brooke
16-08-2002, 11:45
Originally posted by ought
Well I am a native English speaker who loves the language and its use and abuse, but I fail to see why that line is so amusing?
Speaking for myself, I found it hilarious firstly because of the line's sheer absurdity (the basic idea that one could go on holiday by mistake in the first place) and secondly because of the way it sounds strangely plausible - as Bruce Robinson said, you can believe that an Englishman might indeed go on holiday by mistake in a way that it's practically impossible to imagine a Frenchman or an Italian doing.
plus the delivery from Richard E Grant! :lol:
I don't see it.
Ah well... Maybe I will watch it again one day and see if it improves with age.
Sb
To anyone who loves Withnail and would like to know more about the rather strange world of Bruce Robinson, I'd heartily recommend "Smoking in Bed - Conversations with Bruce Robinson" - edited by Alistair Owen (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0747552592/ref=sr_aps_books_1_1/026-2373676-2902039)
As well as a write, actor and director he's a wonderful storyteller.
The only downside was it prompted me to buy his autobiographical novel, The Peculiar Memories of Thomas Penman (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0747542376/ref=pd_sim_b_dp/026-2373676-2902039) which I couldn't get further than 30 pages into although rereading the customer comments on Amazon perhaps I should've persevered past the ********y part.....
ought - I totally empathise with you as I was similarly unimpressed on my first viewing. I guess like all hyped-up films you are asking for a big let down once on baord the rollercoaster.
However, I did appreciate some of the humour and, as Michael so nicely described, the use of our language. There was certainly something there that necessitated a repeat viewing which is strange for me as I have over 400 films and am only 35-40% through watching them for the first time on DVD.
I have now watched it 3 times in the last 5 months and love it. It is one of those rare films that really does improve with repeated viewings and will last the test of time because the acting and, more importantly, the script are so good. Indeed you have induced the desire to watch it again as soon as I get home tonight - despite the underlying depressing tone it is a film that makes me happy, puts the world in perspective and relaxes me. I guess in those repsects Withnail for me falls somewhere between the views expressed above and I guess that was Robinson's aim.
I am now in the same position as most Withnailers in that I sell the film to friends who are similarly unimpressed as you and I on first viewing. Strangely enough my step father, who was a big chemical experimenter at Uni (as a chemist at the time of LSD for all - he died his hair green, wore green cords etc and had cauliflower earrings :nuts: ) at the same time that the film is set, was not as impressed with the film when I showed him it (somewhat surprising he missed it on original release but then again maybe not ;) ) whereas my wife. who is Chilean and was educated in Germany, loves the film. Her English is excellent but just a point to illustrate that not all of those German students at the premier missed the point because of language but probably because of a similar first impression to you and I.
You must try it again in time and be as determined as Uncle Monty .............
"I mean to have you, even if it be burglary"
:clap:
Just to help me pass the day whilst waiting for my 4th viewing tonight can anyone remind me of the line where Withnail is in the pub and is confronted by Michael Elphick and his fish?
It is along the lines that he has been assaulted or threatened with a fish.
John Hodson
10-07-2006, 13:01
Anchor Bay are prepping a Withnail And I: 20th Anniversary Edition (2 Discs & CD) (http://www.thedvdforums.com/jump2.php?url=http://playcom.at/thedvdforums?DURL=http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/RCS/3-/1098597/Withnail_And_I_20th_Anniversary_Edition/Product.html) for release in October:
Digitally remastered feature film
Audio commentary: actors Paul McGann and Ralph Brown recall the ups and downs shooting the film
1999 documentary 'Withnail And Us': writer/director Bruce Robinson talks about his debut feature, former flatmates with whom he shared the Withnail lifestyle while writing the film while the casting director recounts the hilarious auditions for the film and of course the stars!
Behind the scenes stills from Ralph Steadman
Postcards from Penrith
2 new featurettes exclusive to this release
Original rare score on a bonus CD!
Original theatrical trailer
the thing with no name
10-07-2006, 13:24
the CD sounds like a good addition (even though i've got most of it seperatly)
A lot depends upon how good the new transfer is, and what the extra features are, but if the picture is improved (the old transfer is not great) then this will become a must buy for me.
Ninjakettle
10-07-2006, 13:30
That's excellent news! Watched this the other night with some friends who hadn't seen it as there was nothing on the box - and i nervously put it on after declaring it one of my favourite films of all time! - but they loved it!
"don't attempt anything without the gloves" - still cracks me up.
mrpants99
10-07-2006, 13:35
I love this film - some bittersweet moments where your heart pangs for Richard E Grant's character - particularly his speech in the final part of the film. This film must have one of the biggest 'great quote' ratios ever:
"Monty you terrible *****"
"well kiss 10% of the arses then"
"don't threaten me with a dead fish"
"I mean to have you boy, even if it be burglary"...imagine getting backed into a corner by Uncle Monty :eek: :gag:
...marvellous film, one of my all time favourites.
Wonderful film. The 2 disc set looks like a must have, if only for the soundtrack. I love nearly all the lines in it.
"What are you doing?"
"Sitting down to enjoy my holiday"
Given the responses here, what is immediately apparent is that you either get it, in which case it's hilarious, or you don't get it, in which case it's tedious beyond belief. Every film has its devotees and its critics, Withnail is one of those where people fall firmly in one camp or the other, there aren't many people who "quite" like it. I love it, my gf can't see anything funny in it at all. But then, she doesn't find Spinal Tap funny either...uh oh, I feel another thread starting!
'We came on holiday by accident'
:lol:
I rather enjoy it, but I no longer find it funny (it is still smile-enducing of course.) It is more like a comfy blanket that you watch and snuggle up with. Something like that anyway.
I went cold-turkey from my Withnail and I addiction a while back (I was watching the damn thing on a weekly basis at one point … more scarily, that doesn't get me close to the hard-core fans) but I spun the disk for the first time in over a year today. Turns out those Just Say No lectures hit the nail when they said one more hit is all it takes.
In the intervening time I've got through the best (and I use the term as loosely as the language permits me) part of university and appreciate the film on an entirely different level. Be it student life or unemployment, travelling on that hellish train of drink-fuelled uncertainty makes you see the film in a very different way. Although there's few who can claim to be true fellow-travellers of Withnail, and that must be part of its appeal; as bad as things get, they haven't got that bad.
But I agree a year of lost weekends isn't a requirement to enjoy Withnail and I. Bruce Robinson writes how Joss Whedon thinks he writes; the screenplay's ceaseless distortion of the Anglo-Saxon tongue is hilarious in itself, but watching the final stages of Withnail's long drop down the rollercoaster of life is riotous and poignant in equal measure.
Favourite line? The all-time best suicide note for when the police pull you over for drink driving. "I assure you I'm not officer, honestly, I've only had a couple of ales."
It's in the "films I used to like" category for me.
Along with "Trainspotting", "The Crow" and "The Matrix".
I think you can sometimes grow out of a film the way you can grow out of friendships/relationships.
joconnor
25-08-2006, 08:30
"No you won't, you're not leaving me in here alone. Those are the kind of windows faces look in!"
And my favourite that still cracks me up:
"What about whatshisname?
What about him?
Why don't you give him a call?
What for?
Ask him about his house.
You want me to call whatshisname and ask him about his house?
Why not?
All right. What's his number?
I've no idea. I've never met him.
Well neither have I. What the **** are you talking about?"
couldn't we bundle up all the naysayers in this thread and dump them at Crow Crag with a predatory, obese posh homosexual?
Anyone who doesn't appreciate that script and the delivery of it's lines doesn't deserve Withnail and I.
Tom Whitaker
25-08-2006, 09:40
It's in the "films I used to like" category for me.
Along with "Trainspotting", "The Crow" and "The Matrix".
I think you can sometimes grow out of a film the way you can grow out of friendships/relationships.
The Crow, in particular, is the best film ever when you're 13. I still like it now, I think. I've got it on DVD and "love it", but have no real desire to watch it.
Aardvark_DK
26-08-2006, 16:06
I wrote this for a different forum recently:
Second viewing: The first time I saw this I didn't really get it (partly because I had a hard time hearing a lot of the lines - no substitles). Don't get me wrong, I liked it but I didn't quite understand what all the fuss was about. This time I did understand the fuss, but I still didn't find it all that funny; the whole thing just seems too melancholy and depressing for that. However, I can imagine that I'll find it funnier the more times I watch it - and I plan to watch it a lot of times.
Third viewing (with commentary track): Paul McGann and Ralph Brown's commentary is informative, engaging, and very funny. Highly recommended.
Fourth mewing: "GETINTHEBACKOFTHEVAN!" *snicker*
Fifth spooning: Though this movie may chiefly be remembered for Grant's performance, there just isn't a single false note struck by any of the actors. It's the kind of movie that you just have to see several times before it becomes really funny. Every time I watch it I laugh harder. And English isn't even my first language.
This was the debut of director Bruce Robinson? How is that possible? There is nothing even remotely amateurish about this picture.
"My thumbs have gone weird!"
http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/554/withnail1.jpg
"If I spike you, you'll know you've been spoken to."
http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/2441/withnail6.jpg
"Don't threaten me with a dead fish!"
http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/8330/withnail8.jpg
"How can we make it die?"
http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/6087/withnail10.jpg
"I have a heart condition. If you hit me, it's murder."
http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/4757/withnail5.jpg
"They're throwing themselves into the road gladly!"
http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/7632/withnail7.jpg
"As a child I used to weep in butcher's shops."
http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/7500/withnail9.jpg
"Nonsense, this is a far superior drink to meths. The ******* don't drink it because they can't afford it."
http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/6703/withnail4.jpg
If you've seen it enough times, every line is funny. Even, "Would you like a cup of tea Whithnail?"
"No"
'We came on holiday by accident'
:lol:
sorry to be pedantic but I've watched this film more than any other ever.
The correct line is' We've come on holiday by mistake'
Aardvark_DK
26-08-2006, 20:09
If you've seen it enough times, every line is funny. Even, "Would you like a cup of tea Whithnail?"
"No"
The utter loathing for life that Grant manages to put into that single "no"... Amazing.
My favourite bit (which is also pointed out on the commentary track) is when Marwood has received the news of getting a part in some play and Withnail says "Well done". The mixture of jealousy, envy, hatred and love that he conveys in two simple words, is a rare kind of acting.
I love this film, although I discovered it well after my student haze/days.
Anyone read the book? The real ending's a total bummer. :(
I love this film, although I discovered it well after my student haze/days.
Anyone read the book? The real ending's a total bummer. :(
Is that the ...
... claret-shotgun combo suicide that was to end the film before Robinson decided it was "too depressing"?
Planescape
27-08-2006, 07:34
Sadly I'm with Ought, i've seen the film a few times, I'm a student and currently don't have a permanent work (summer hols so I am working) but I just don't get Withnail and I. I can see why its meant to be great and I understand why people love it. I watched it with a friend a few years ago and it just did nothing for me really. Richard E Grant is damn good though :)
Aardvark_DK
27-08-2006, 07:42
Is that the ...
... claret-shotgun combo suicide that was to end the film before Robinson decided it was "too depressing"?
I'm glad he didn't go with that. The current ending strikes a perfect balance between melancholy and the humour of everything that has come before.
"...No, nor woman neither."
mattwakeman
27-08-2006, 08:18
Firmly in the 'not only is it wonderful but gets more wonderful everytime that you see it'. And the final speech merely proves just how fine a writer Shakespeare was...
The Bear
28-08-2006, 09:59
I must say it did nothing for me. Was ok, but can't be bothered watching it again.
Great film and a great British film. I sold my CD soundtrack on Amazon for £65 to a Channel 4 production company last year.
Good call :nuts:
Squirrel God
28-08-2006, 14:40
We are not drunks, we are multi-millionaires.
A line that has come in handy many a time. :D
DeadKenny
28-08-2006, 15:28
Can't say I'm a fan either. I should give it another chance I guess but I'm no fan of Richard "E" Grant. As for identifying with students I get the impression that it applies mostly for Oxbridge types ;)
IMO the movie is okay, but not wonderful. It failed to make much of an impression on its initial cinema release in the UK, and why is that always read as "pah -- what do the general public know anyway?". Actually, did the movie ever go into profit I wonder? If it did, I'll bet it was only because of the low budget.
I've seen it a few times and quite like it, but it certainly isn't something I'd buy. Its 'classic' status definitely deserves to be questioned in a thread like this.
I'd say it's more deserving of "cult" rather than "classic".
the thing with no name
29-08-2006, 10:58
the CD sounds like a good addition (even though i've got most of it seperatly)
A lot depends upon how good the new transfer is, and what the extra features are, but if the picture is improved (the old transfer is not great) then this will become a must buy for me.
anyone seen any reviews of this yet? Or any news on the transfer? :thumbs:
SIMON ADEBISI
29-08-2006, 12:10
I like it but i've never bought it. Id watch it on tv though.
It's not just the script though, the sets are SO english :)
Even with lashing's of physical comedy, first thing that comes into my mind is him covering himself in "deep heat"
To this day, I still want to know if that would work ;)
SIMON ADEBISI
29-08-2006, 15:26
To this day, I still want to know if that would work ;)
Only one way to find out. Go for it :D
Nathan-Wind
05-10-2006, 17:21
Anybody seen a review yet? Surely its worth another punt for the Bruce Robinson commentary? That was one of my fantasy it'll never happen commentaries.
KeyserSoze
05-10-2006, 22:02
Couldn't really get into when I watched it years ago. Couldn't finish it when it was on TV a few months back.
But this DVD looks tempting, seems like an interesting movie, maybe I didn't give it a chance.
Love the cover art too, very Criterion like.
Now need a review, can anyone confirm that it is Anamorphic and has a better trasnfer than the previous disc?
the thing with no name
06-10-2006, 14:17
i still want to know about this also, one of the few films my wife and i both love :thumbs:
George vader
06-10-2006, 16:23
It's reviewed in this months EMpire and Total Film mags.
Finally got around to watching this at the weekend having bought it agaes ago from Play.
What is all the fuss about? It is only occasionally mildly funny and there is little else to hold interest.
A product of its time that has not aged too well perhaps.
I think you may be having a laugh.
It's one of the funniest, most poignant films ever made, in my opinion. Perfect script, great acting, full of quotable lines, laugh-out-loud funny.
Aardvark_DK
06-10-2006, 22:25
Now need a review, can anyone confirm that it is Anamorphic and has a better trasnfer than the previous disc?
Definitely anamorphic. Whether the transfer is better I can't say.
Nathan-Wind
07-10-2006, 00:44
Anyone know what the Robinson commentary is like? Please.
the thing with no name
10-10-2006, 20:52
i've ordered it now meself, so I'll do a check on the old disc before (attempting) to hawk it on the classifieds for a quid :lol:
KeyserSoze
11-10-2006, 18:57
Received mine today.
I could possibly get some screengrabs if you lot are interested, I don't have other versions to compare it to though. Also I don't have online photo account, so I could mail the pics.
What else do you need to know? I can't comment on the commentary, Ive never seen the movie in its entirety so I wont be listening to it for a while, but i did sample the Bruce Robinson one (thats the new one right?), here a quick snippet....
"This is a edit cafe......... Camden is full of these ********** cafes........... we use ********** to describe drunken irishmen" :lol:
Please do not bypass the swear censor.
You can upload them on imageshack.us althoough there's little point unless omeone posts the same size grabs.
Aardvark_DK
13-10-2006, 15:11
Old Anchor Bay R2:
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/2544/withnail_1_old.jpg
New Anchor Bay R2:
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/2411/withnail_1_new.jpg
Old:
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/8243/withnail_2_old.jpg
New:
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/2708/withnail_2_new.jpg
Old:
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/8567/withnail_3_old.jpg
New:
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/2701/withnail_3_new.jpg
Detail levels seem to be about the same but obviously the colour scheme has been changed quite a bit. I shan't say which is more accurate. The new edition is anamorphic and should look quite a bit better on widescreen TVs.
bradavon
13-10-2006, 15:17
One thorough review: http://www.dvdactive.com/reviews/dvd/withnail-and-i-20th-anniversary-edition.html
It's also Progressive now too.
the thing with no name
13-10-2006, 15:34
excellent - can't wait for mine to arrive (and with a lovely tin too - yummy)
KeyserSoze
13-10-2006, 18:28
wow looks pretty terrible from the screenshots. Looks ok when watching.
The tin is very nice, the texture isnt smooth so wont get any fingerprints on there!
Except the hub for the Score CD on mine has come aprt :( the booklet does a good job of holding it in place though thank god, cba to return it.
Saw this last night for the first time on Film 4.
I have to echo those who found it boring and pointless - I can't say I even raised a smile let alone a laugh - all the characters were unlikeable and boring, and they didn't even do anything interesting.
What am I missing?
What am I missing?
Alcohol? Student lifestyle?
;)
Alcohol?
Check
Student lifestyle?
Check.
I've lived in a squalid student flat, and still like a drink, so I don't think it's that.
HenryKrinkle
04-03-2008, 11:30
Saw this last night for the first time on Film 4.
I have to echo those who found it boring and pointless - I can't say I even raised a smile let alone a laugh - all the characters were unlikeable and boring, and they didn't even do anything interesting.
What am I missing?
This film suffers considerably from it's reputation. Like a lot of 'so called' classics, when you go in expecting a life changing experience you are more often than not disappointed. However, I would say that this film is a grower and one day you may watch it and find something special about it.
It may help if you are/were a student...I wasn't...and also indulged in large quantities of drugs...I didn't! If you don't like it don't worry about it, not everyone likes everything!! ;)
...it is one of the best films of all time though and has a priceless script...'we've come on holiday by mistake' :lol::notworthy:lol:
Depends what you are expecting. Its not a laugh riot, and is quite depressing in places. Even Uncle Monty can be quite disturbing. It's very subtle - look at how 'I' progresses through the film and how Whitnail reacts to his audition. That's what the characters do. Its about friendship, adversity, unrequieted love and loss.
For me, its all about the dialogue. If you don't find the dialogue funny, you wont find the film funny and are, if you don't mind me saying, a terrible ****. :D
Also, as above, its a grower. One day, you might really like it. I watched it the first time and barely tittered and wondered what the fuss was about.
Depends what you are expecting. Its not a laugh riot, and is quite depressing in places. Even Uncle Monty can be quite disturbing. It's very subtle - look at how 'I' progresses through the film and how Whitnail reacts to his audition. That's what the characters do. Its about friendship, adversity, unrequieted love and loss.
I found the characters very two dimensional, almost just a cypher for the semi-smart dialogue, so those themes just passed me by.
For me, its all about the dialogue. If you don't find the dialogue funny, you wont find the film funny and are, if you don't mind me saying, a terrible ****. :D
I love good dialogue - my favourite film I've seen recently is Juno. I just didn't think this film had it.
Also, as above, its a grower. One day, you might really like it. I watched it the first time and barely tittered and wondered what the fuss was about.
Maybe - although I doubt I'll watch it again.
LouBarlow
04-03-2008, 11:50
That's why it's called a cult movie.
There we differ, I thought Juno had terrible, forced dialogue. And while we're on the subject, would anyone be familiar with Dario Argento, The Stooges and not have heard of HG Lewis? I don't think so. And The incredible Gore Gore Girls'...even better than Suspiria' ? Again, I don't think so. :D Awful script.
Kirs-tea
04-03-2008, 11:52
I love Withnail & I. It'd definitely be in my top 5 films too. Gets funnier everytime I watch it!
Spectre07
04-03-2008, 12:37
Lower your expectations and watch it again. Better still, turn the picture off and listen to it. It's not one of my favourite films but it's one I have time for.
I love it - but I think you need to watch it a few times to really appreciate it.
Ralph Brown's Danny character is one of my favourites. Also, love the way they put the chicken in the oven, sitting on a brick.
Kirs-tea
04-03-2008, 13:11
Also, love the way they put the chicken in the oven, sitting on a brick.
That's one of my favourite scenes too :lol:
thescrounger
04-03-2008, 13:27
Haven't seen it for a while. Loved it when I first saw it but I just wonder how well it holds up, as I reckon it's one of those films you love in your twenties and then grow out of.
Kirs-tea
04-03-2008, 13:43
I reckon it's one of those films you love in your twenties and then grow out of.
Well, my parents love the film as much as me and they're nowhere near their 20s! :)
Well, my parents love the film as much as me and they're nowhere near their 20s! :)
and I first saw it in my twenties and thought it was a bit crap, but what do i know?, I thought Clerks was overated nonsence too! :D
I watched it the first time and I didn't think much of it, but I also thought that it must be a film that you need to see a few times because there aren't any real jokes in it. The more familiar you become with it, the funnier it becomes. I now think its one of the funniest films I've ever seen. It always makes me laugh. Its one of the most quoteable films ever.
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