BT1886

How to Get Ahead in Advertising

“The world is one magnificent fucking shop!” Director Bruce Robinson is well known for his first foray into filmmaking with Withnail & I, a comedy centered around the late 60’s and drug abuse — I remember watching it years ago and enjoying the film, for the most part. That was the only film that I saw by Bruce Robinson, until today that is. How to Get Ahead in Advertisingis a film focused on the twisted world of *shudders* capitalism. We follow a top advertising executive, Bagley, as they begin to question their impact on the world while having one of the most over-the-top breakdowns I have ever seen on film. The position the film takes is obvious while it takes time to compare burgers to that of atom bombs — we get it Bruce. While I can agree with the director’s point of view on the matter, the film depicts it in such a silly manner I find it hard to take serious. This film has such a chaotic energy to it, it can be a tad unrelenting at times which did hamper the viewing experience for me just a bit. That isn’t to say it’s a bad film, I actually think the chaos adds to the overall experience — it was just a bit much for me during my viewing. Richard Grantis one of the standouts here as he chews on every piece of furniture with his especially hammy performance as a man with a talking boil. Movies wack, yo.