‘Withnail and I’ – the End of An Age(s)?

It is probably about time I got round to writing a review, or rather, a meditation on the 1987 film Withnail and I. Besides being one of my all time favourite films I believe it’s worthy of some genteel dissection and maybe a little critical discussion. That said, a lot has been written about Withnail and I, it’s one of the most quotable films amongst certain demographics; students in particular spring to mind. Indeed on release the film wasn’t a box office smash, it took a while to find it’s “cult” status and amongst students sharing copies on VHS tapes it didn’t take too long to become a fixture on the uni experience.

Withnail certainly seemed to speak to students; the depiction of a hard drinking, drug fuelled lifestyle lived in squalid surrounds was, and is, a familiar one to many. The situation of these two jobbing actors…