20 Cult British Films You Need To See Before You Die

2. Withnail and I (1987)

Two unemployed actors live in a squalid London flat and spend their days floating between the pub and the dole office. Marwood is an anxious depressive and Withnail is a sharp tongued but very funny alcoholic. They go on an ill-fated trip to Withnail's Uncle Monty's country house. It is cold, rainy and definitely a local place for local people. Uncle Monty is a flamboyant homosexual who is after Marwood's anal virginity. When they get back to London, word of imminent eviction comes to them and Marwood is offered a role in a play. Is this the end of his friendship with Withnail? Withnail and I is a totally hilarious movie with Richard E. Grant in fine fettle as the drunken, sarcastic Withnail, whole tracts of the film script can be used as amusing quotable material. As well as being funny, the film is also surprisingly poignant - especially in the latter stages when Marwood stumbles upon success and leaves Withnail on his own with a bottle of Uncle Monty's fine wine and an uncertain future. Definitely one of the wittiest British cult movies ever produced.