Withnail and I

Book excerpt: Bruce Robinson's celebrated cult comedy. This original screenplay is the sourcebook for these ubiquitous quotes about Withnail and his unnamed house-mate "I" (or "Marwood", as he appears in the script), acting students in the late 1960s, bombed from too many drugs and bummed out by too much poverty. They decide that some time in the country to rejuvenate (in the run-down holiday cottage of rich Uncle Monty) is the best remedy. After a drunken ride through interminable rain they get to the cottage... Bruce Robinson has proved in his hugely enjoyable novel The Peculiar Memories of Thomas Penman what a fantastic writer he is and access to the screenplay only confirms that it was the quality of his dialogue that makes "Withnail" such a peerless classic. An essential companion to one of the funniest films ever made. Screenplay of the classic cult film by Bruce Robinson, with an introduction by the director