Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on May 2014

Semi-autobiographical 1987 slice-of-life cult fave by actor-turned-director Bruce Robinson (Paul McGann) is based largely on his starving-actor period in London in the ’60s, when he hung out with fellow unemployed thespian and full-time wastrel Vivian MacKerrell, here named Withnail and memorably played by Richard E. Grant in a boozy, perpetually angry, now-iconic, comic tour de force. Not much plot to follow; it’s episodic in structure and more about characterizations and situations. Like avoiding the amorous advances of Withnail’s rich gay uncle (Harry Potter uncle Richard Griffiths). Well worth another look. (107 min)