Withnail and I

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Withnail and I

R

1987

1h 42m

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

84%

Tomatometer

87 Reviews

93%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

Two out-of-work actors -- the anxious, luckless Marwood (Paul McGann) and his acerbic, alcoholic friend, Withnail (Richard E. Grant) -- spend their days drifting between their squalid flat, the unemployment office and the pub. When they take a holiday "by mistake" at the country house of Withnail's flamboyantly gay uncle, Monty (Richard Griffiths), they encounter the unpleasant side of the English countryside: tedium, terrifying locals and torrential rain.

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Critics Consensus

Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann prove irresistibly hilarious as two misanthropic slackers in Withnail and I, a biting examination of artists living on the fringes of prosperity and good taste.

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Victoria Mather

Daily Telegraph (UK)

Apr 4, 2025

In many ways Bruce Robinson's Withnail and I is what the great and good British film industry is all about. It is an eccentric, intimate and well-written independent production that would never have seen the light of day in Hollywood.

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Derek Malcolm

Guardian

Apr 4, 2025

There is a certain kind of movie that gets praised not so much because of its virtues as because, in some strange way, we suspect that no one would ever dare make its like again. Withnail and I is one of those enterprises.

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Neil Norman

London Evening Standard

Apr 4, 2025

If the film belongs to anyone, it is Richard E. Grant, who takes the dissolute and mannered character of Withnail and creates a Wildean creature of tragi-comic proportions, the like of which has not been seen in a British film for some time.

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Jonathan Kiefer

Screen Slate

Jul 14, 2026

For that matter, with its one-has-to-laugh feeling of being basically doomed, too distracted, and forever unable to slow down, it’s also unnervingly, perhaps perpetually current.

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Bradley Gibson

Film Threat

Jun 5, 2025

10/10

The film can be enjoyed on many levels, including getting just interplanetary on your favorite substance and waiting for the plethora of quotable lines.

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Rudie Obias

Battleship Pretension

May 24, 2025

It’s truly a cult classic and one of the best films from Bruce Robinson, a director who has made far too little during his filmmaking career.

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Huntin P

@PaxVobiscum80 Sep 20, 2026

A one-of-a-kind sort of movie. Withnail is one of those movies you hear a lot about before you get to see it. Then it disappoints. But watch again and the brilliance begins to get through the canopy of overpraising. It's not really full of quotable lines. Quotable lines are ones you can utilise in your own life. When are you ever going to say, "My thumbs have gone weird!", or, "Lick 10% of the a**eholes for me then!"? Perhaps the most recyclable line is "Sherry?". Richard E. Grant gives a career performance as the drunken wastrel title character. Uncle Monty, and drug dealer Danny, are the other most memorable figures, more so than "I". A poignant comedy about the end of the swinging sixties, and the disappointments of living, the ravages of friendship, the impossibility of wellingtons. Withnail used to be very popular with students, permanently the better or worse for booze. I understand Gen-Z doesn't drink. Oh well. Chin chin.

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B M

@RT98041715 Jul 24, 2026

This is the best movie of all time.

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David B

@DavidDorset1966 May 25, 2026

An epic and completely defining film of friendship, middle class squalor and dreams. And incredibly funny (non-UK audiences may find the humour too eccentric)....

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T P

@price8567 Oct 7, 2025

Plays like a student film. Overly dramatic and clumsy dialogue. Actors playing for the camera. Yet it does hold your attention enough to see it through.

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Mike M

@RT09645912 Sep 18, 2025

Simply my favorite movie of all time . It never gets old and I know the dialouge by heart. Slow at times but some CLASSIC lines and great acting with memorable characters. Late 60's London never looked so bleak, or funny. Grant never topped this role. One for your collection

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Tracey D

@RT38134325 Jul 15, 2025

This film it's an all-time classic. The acting is outstanding. The script is fantastic and it's a must film for everybody to see one of my all-time favourites

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Bruce Robinson

Director

Richard E. Grant

Withnail

Paul McGann

Peter Marwood

Richard Griffiths

Monty

Ralph Brown

Danny

Michael Elphick

Jake

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Synopsis

Two out-of-work actors -- the anxious, luckless Marwood (Paul McGann) and his acerbic, alcoholic friend, Withnail (Richard E. Grant) -- spend their days drifting between their squalid flat, the unemployment office and the pub. When they take a holiday "by mistake" at the country house of Withnail's flamboyantly gay uncle, Monty (Richard Griffiths), they encounter the unpleasant side of the English countryside: tedium, terrifying locals and torrential rain.

Director: Bruce Robinson
Producer: Paul M. Heller
Screenwriter: Bruce Robinson
Production Co: Cineplex-Odeon Films
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 19, 1987, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 15, 2020
Box Office (Gross USA): $27.0K
Runtime: 1h 42m
Sound Mix: Stereo

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