{"id":9231,"date":"2018-04-09T22:58:49","date_gmt":"2018-04-10T02:58:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/?p=9231"},"modified":"2018-04-09T22:58:49","modified_gmt":"2018-04-10T02:58:49","slug":"throwback-movie-review-withnail-and-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/2018\/04\/09\/throwback-movie-review-withnail-and-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Throwback Movie Review: Withnail and I"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe\u2019ve gone on holiday by mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n

-Withnail<\/p>\n

Finding a movie that I absolutely fall in love with happens pretty rarely. Around once a year however, I find a movie that is perfect. I\u2019ll watch it over and over again, making other movies seem dull in comparison.\u00a0 The movie I haven’t been able to get enough of these past few months is \u201cWithnail and I\u201d.\u00a0 It is a British black comedy that came out in 1987 and directed by Bruce Robinson.\u00a0 Upon its release, it wasn’t extremely successful or popular, but overtime it has become one of Britain\u2019s biggest cult classics.<\/p>\n

One of my favorite parts of this movie is that it has a simple and straightforward storyline.\u00a0 It follows two out of work actors in 1969, Withnail a highly dramatic alcoholic, and “I”, the more sensible one and the voice of reason compared to Withnail.\u00a0 You don’t learn the character “I”\u2019s name throughout the entire movie, another small detail that makes this movie so delightful.\u00a0 Throughout the movie we see these two characters take a vacation from their disgusting London flat, to the gloomy but beautiful English countryside, where they stay at a cottage owned by Withnail\u2019s uncle.\u00a0 As the film unfolds, their vacation proves to be anything but enjoyabl: monotonous days, strange local characters, and lots and lots of dreary rain.\u00a0 The characters have no real goal or destination other than to have an enjoyable vacation, which they miserably fail at.<\/p>\n

The acting in this movie is absolutely amazing, especially from Richard E. Grant who plays Withnail.\u00a0 It\u2019s been said by many that Grant\u2019s drunk acting is some of the best ever put to screen.\u00a0 It is the perfect mix of hilarious and pitiful, but it is so extremely true and not at all over the top.\u00a0 The \u201cI\u201d character, although less extreme, is just as spectacularly played by the actor Paul McGann.\u00a0 His constant exasperation with Withnail creates loads of hilarity, as well as relatability; everyone can pick out the Withnail in their own life.<\/p>\n

People often think this movie was actually made in the 60\u2019s, due to how accurate to the time it is.\u00a0 Something that adds to this is the soundtrack.\u00a0 The music perfectly defines the time.\u00a0 The songs are celebrating the 60\u2019s and mourning the end of it.\u00a0 We hear, of course, the kings of 60\u2019s music, the Beatles, \u201cWhile my Guitar Gently Weeps\u201d.\u00a0 This songs fits perfectly with how absolutely depressing the men\u2019s flat is.\u00a0 We also hear Jimi Hendrix singing sweet anthems of this era, and electrifying the exciting scenes.<\/p>\n

This movie has absolutely became one of my favorites.\u00a0 It is a flawless combination of laughter and sadness.\u00a0 The backdrop of dreary England mixed with these two slightly psychotic characters creates a beautifully unique story that I could not recommend enough.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
photo via foylefilmfestival.org<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe\u2019ve gone on holiday by mistake.\u201d -Withnail Finding a movie that I absolutely fall in love with happens pretty rarely. Around once a year however, I find a movie that is perfect. I\u2019ll watch it over and over again, making other movies seem dull in comparison.\u00a0 The movie I haven’t been able to get enough […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2193,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9231"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2193"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9231"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9233,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9231\/revisions\/9233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}