How to Get Ahead in Advertising

 Year of Release:  1989

Director:  Bruce Robinson

Screenplay:  Bruce Robinson

Starring:  Richard E. Grant, Rachel Ward, Richard Wilson

Running Time:  94 minutes

Genre:  fantasy, comedy

Denis Dimbleby Bagley (Grant) is a stressed British advertising executive, who is approaching a breakdown while trying to develop a campaign to sell pimple cream.  One day he notices a boil on the side of his neck, which grows at an alarming rate, and quickly develops into a second head, with it's own ruthless personality.  Before long, the boil is taking control of Bagley's life.

Actor turned writer-director Bruce Robinson first made name for himself with the cult film Withnail and I (1987), and here he reunites with Withnail star Richard E. Grant for a satirical attack on advertising in particular and modern British life in general.  It's hardly subtle, but is pretty funny in places.  The humour is very British, with it's schoolboy delight in mess and gleeful surrealism.  Richard E. Grant dominates the film as the alternately hilarious and terrifying antihero Bagley.  Grant is at his manic best here, all flailing limbs, wolfish grins and waspish one-liners.  Rachel Ward provides the beating heart of the film as Bagley's sympathetic wife, Julia, and she does the best she can with the little that she is given to do.  Richard Wilson, who would shortly become Britain's favourite grumpy old man Victor Meldrew in TV sitcom One Foot in the Grave (1990-2000), plays Bagley's crusty boss.  Fans of British television might recognise other familiar faces in small roles, and Sean Bean makes a brief appearance.  The voice of the boil is provided by an uncredited Bruce Robinson.  The amount of hectoring and speeches about the evils of the modern world does become a little tiresome, even though it's hard to argue with what the film has to say, and even though it is very much a product of the late 1980s, it is still quite pertinent.  It's not a great film, the special effects look very cheap, and it's awkwardly paced and runs out of steam before the end.  it does have a moment though, and it is worth a look because it is funny, if you like surreal British dark comedy, and Richard E, Grant gives a fantastic comic performance.

Richard E. Grant learns How to Get Ahead in Advertising

Withnail & I

Year: 1987
Director: Bruce Robinson
Screenplay: Bruce Robinson
Starring: Richard E. Grant, Paul McGann, Richard Griffiths, Ralph Brown, Michael Elphick
Running Time: 108 minutes
Genre: Comedy

Summary: London, 1969: Withnail (Grant) and Marwood (McGann) are a pair of unemployed actors who share a squalid flat. Withnail is a flamboyant alcoholic with a penchant for long, venomous rants where he bemoans his fate, humanity and the world in general while proclaiming himself as an undiscovered genius. Marwood is more level-headed and anxiety prone.
Deciding they need a break, they go off for a holiday in the country in a cottage owned by Withnail's Uncle Monty (Griffiths). However, the holiday does not go to plan, as they are hampered by terrible weather, and a complete lack of food, fuel and common sense. As Withnail manages to antagonise every local person they encounter, including a threatening poacher (Elphick), and Marwood does his best to avoid the sexual advances of Uncle Monty.

Opinions: Note: Paul McGann's character name is never spoken in the movie and in the credits he is just referred to as "I", but he is named Marwood in the screenplay and I have used that name in this review for the sake of convenience.
This scathing dark comedy is one of the greatest British films of the 1980s and remains one of the best cult films Britain ever produced. The film is full of memorable scenes and quotable dialogue. Blending elements of tragedy with the comedy it is at once sad and hilarious. Grant made his name with his portrayal of the vicious Withnail who barely shuts up long enough to down prodigious quantities of alcohol. Incidentally, in real life Grant is a teetotaller and had never been drunk prior to signing on for the film. Robinson felt that he could not play an alcoholic like Withnail unless he knew what it was like to be drunk, and so forced Grant to go on a drinking binge. Grant has said that he found the experience deeply unpleasant. McGann and Griffith are impressive in their roles, but Ralph Brown as permanently stoned drug dealer Danny walks away with every scene he appears in.
The film is largely autobiographical with Marwood being based on Robinson and Withnail being based on actor Vivian MacKerrell, with whom Robinson shared a house in the 1960s. The scene where Withnail drinks lighter fluid was taken from an incident where MacKerrell drank lighter fluid and, according to Robinson, was unable to see again for several days. In the film, unbeknownst to Grant, Robinson subsituted the water, that was originally going to be drank in the lighter fluid scene with vinegar. The subsequent vomiting was scripted, but the look of complete shock and disgust on Grant's face was entirely genuine.
There is a real sense in the movie of the end of an era. The wild carnival of the swinging sixites giving way to the long hangover of the seventies.


"We want the finest wines available to humanity. We want them here, and we want them now!"
-Withnail (Richard E. Grant) places his order in a quiet country tea shop in Withanil & I




Marwood (Paul McGann) and Withnail (Richard E. Grant) pause for reflection in Withnail & I