'Withnail and I' is a portrayal of the final throes of a friendship as well as the seedy demise of the hippy period of the 60s. A obsessively observed character study of two degenerates in England: Withnail- a flamboyantly dark minded relic of the 60s and his partner in crime Marwood (the 'I') - a neurotic and ill-equipped comic relief trying to reassimilate into society. Whether it's viewed stone cold sober or drunk as a skunk, it's arguably a defining rite of passage classic film. Considered one of the best British comedy films of all time, it's a vignette of the times that still alludes to this present day.
The film maintained a cult status, although it's hard for many who watch to refrain from quoting this film, and nowadays it's attained a higher viewing audience. It buries it's own dramatic subtext with hilarity as the two venture to the English countryside to rejuvenate themselves and their careers. Their adventure only, naturally, brings them further and further down. It's no surprise that given the insight and intimacy of the film- it's an homage to the director's own personal experience. No other films can be regarded as deep, emotional, or affecting unless the director takes the dive and writes in their own woes and vulnerability into the script.
Perhaps one of the most important black comedies, the film is an absolute must-see for anyone with a pulse and half a brain. It combines two wildly different friends and their struggling careers and tosses enough slurs into the tear-jerking pathos that it's hard to refrain from relating to this film in some way. The economy is down in this day and age, so take a ride back to the end of the 60s and discover that your worries and wonders attest to all humankind as time ticks along.