How To Get Ahead in Advertising

After debuting with the classic Withnail and I, Bruce Robinson wrote and directed the lesser-known comedy How To Get Ahead in Advertising. Again starring Richard E. Grant, the film is a sublime satire of the consumerist Britain of the 80's. While it can come across as a little preachy at times, the story carries itself well on its absurd premise: Richard E. Grant plays Denis Dimbleby Bagley, a veteran advertising executive, who has met his match in trying to sell a new brand of boil cream.

As he struggles with creating a successful pitch, Bagley becomes obsessed with boils, to the point where one grows from his neck. Only, this boil isn't any ordinary boil. It can talk, for one thing, though only Bagley seems to realise this. Bagley and the boil take opposite sides on the matter of consumerism: Bagley 'seeing the light' and railing against it, while the boil revels in anything and everything related to it. Things come to a head quite literally when the boil grows and takes control over Bagley's body, desperate to do its best for the world of advertising.

What that synopsis can't show is just how well executed the film is, with brilliant acting from Richard E. Grant (his first episodes of madness have to be seen to be believed) and an excellent sense of the absurd throughout. Extremely funny, often thought-provoking, and generally an excellent film. Unfortunately it can be a little hard to get this side of the pond (though some may have been lucky enough to pick it up when it was given away with a certain newspaper), but it's well worth hunting down.

If you're after a bit of comedy, then you can't go wrong with How To Get Ahead in Advertising.

So go on, get it!