Withnail and I

Netflix is evil. We have already established the fact that I will never be able to cancel my subscription, which is because of my addiction to movies just as much as because I will never reach the end of my queue. But I will never figure out how it was that I ended up choosing a "classic British art-house dark comedy." Not only had I never heard of it before, but I'm not sure I even know anyone who has heard of it before.

This is no Monty Python movie, but it did make me laugh, although I fear I may have laughed at all the wrong parts. I know I missed some things that were probably funny. (For instance, I didn't catch why the farmer's leg was wrapped up, or even what it was wrapped in). I guess I needed subtitles. My favorite part was probably with the chicken, especially when Withnail asks if it shouldn't be more bald, and then they try to stuff it in the teapot. Didn't need subtitles for that.

Though this movie is nothing like Raising Arizona, it seems to me to have that same sort of dry humor. The sort that is funnier when you're drunk, or it's 2 a.m., or you're watching it with a bunch of people who find it hilarious. Better yet, all three. I also think perhaps it's one that is funnier each time you watch it, but I don't intend to confirm that theory.

Here are a few random observations: Vernon Dursley makes a really creepy predatory gay man. (I'm not sure if that "attempted burglary" was supposed to be funny. I didn't laugh.) The actor who played Withnail also played Hugo in Henry & June, and I was no more impressed with him here, although it was interesting that he was the opposite of the wooden post he played in that movie; here he was an overly-dramatic ham. Also, I couldn't stop thinking that "I", especially when wearing his little round glasses, looked just like Harry Potter all grown up (even though this movie came out before Daniel Radcliffe was even born).

I read on wikipedia that the original ending was to be Withnail pouring a bottle of wine into Monty's shotgun and then committing suicide as he drank it. This ending was left out because it was "too dark." I'll say! That certainly would have changed the tone of the entire movie for me.