Withnail and I /

Withnail and I is a British black comedy made in 1986 by HandMade Films. It was written and directed by Bruce Robinson and is based on his life in London in the late 1960s. The main plot follows two unemployed young actors, Withnail (Richard E. Grant) and “I” (Paul McGann), who live in a squalid flat in Camden in 1969 while waiting for their careers to take off. Needing a holiday, they obtain the key to the country cottage in the Lake District belonging to Withnail’s flamboyantly gay uncle Monty and drive there. The holiday is less ‘recuperative’ than they expected. The role of Withnail was Grant's first in film and launched him into a successful career. The film also featured performances by Richard Griffiths as Withnail's Uncle Monty and Ralph Brown as Danny the drug dealer. The film has tragic and comic elements (particularly farce) and is notable for its period music and many quotable lines. It has been described as "one of Britain's biggest cult films".