• Rating:
• Genre: Comedy
• Movie Type: Workplace Comedy, Black Comedy
• Themes: Renegade Body Parts, Boardroom Jungle
• Director: Bruce Robinson
• Main Cast: Richard E. Grant, Rachel Ward, Richard Wilson, Jacqueline Tong, John Shrapnel
• Release Year: 1989
• Country: UK
• Run Time: 95 minutes
• MPAA Rating: R

Plot

After years of capitalizing on the weaknesses of a gullible public, a London advertising executive finds that his worst qualities have literally taken on a life of their own in this scathing satire. Successful copywriter Dennis Bagley (Richard E. Grant) lives a posh life with his lovely wife, Julia (Rachel Ward), in the London suburbs. Pushed to distraction by a bothersome new pimple-ointment account, he flirts with renouncing his career and becoming socially aware. Immediately thereafter, Bagley discovers that he's developed a zit of his own -- a monstrous boil on his neck that begins whispering evil things in his ear. Convinced that he's being taken over by his dark half, Bagley soon finds his "good" self relegated to the boil while his malevolent alter ego returns to the world of advertising with a vengeance. At first, Julia is relieved that her husband seems to have bounced back from the abyss of mental illness, but soon she realizes that she prefers the gentle but crazy Dennis to the poisonous professional. Written and directed by Withnail & I's Bruce Robinson, How to Get Ahead in Advertising reunites the director with that film's leading man Richard E. Grant. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Review

This black-hearted satire from actor-turned-director Bruce Robinson offers an incisive look at the cynicism and ugliness of unfettered capitalism. But it ain't Kafka, which is why it loses something once it gets past its witty setup and into its metamorphic main story line. Richard E. Grant is never less than riveting as the two sides of his personality -- the human being and the ad man -- split in two and one takes up residence in the talking boil on his neck. He's at his best, however, not when he's gibbering to himself, but when he's coldly explaining the mechanisms by which advertisers and their employers control the world. "'We know it's naughty, but you do deserve it,'" his character spits at a group of hapless junior account execs. "'Go on, darling, swallow a bun!" And she does. And the instant she does, the guilt cuts in. So here we are again with our diet." Such diatribes may ultimately grow wearisome, especially when espoused endlessly by a sentient pimple, but they turn the film's first act into a razor sharp satire about all that's ugly in modern consumer culture. As the film progresses, however, writer/director Robinson treats his talking-boil conceit literally rather than figuratively, and the laughs quickly become shrill. Rachel Ward is likable as the attractive wife who'd rather enjoy her privileged life than face up to the fiendish career that enables it, while Jacqueline Tong provides an amusing target for the Grant character's vitriol. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Cast

• Richard E. Grant - Dennis Bagley
• Rachel Ward - Julia Bagley
• Richard Wilson - Bristol
• Jacqueline Tong - Penny Wheelstock
• John Shrapnel - Psychiatrist

Susan Wooldridge - Monica; Mick Ford - Richard; Jacqueline Pearce - Maude; Hugh Armstrong - Harry Wax; Sean Bean - Larry Frisk; Rachel Fielding - Jennifer; Donald Hoath - Businessman; John Levitt - Businessman; Victor Lucas - Tweedy Man; Roddy Maude-Roxby - Dr. Gatty; Gino Melvazzi - Waiter; Pauline Melville - Mrs. Wallace; Tony Slattery - Basil; Pip Torrens - Jonathan; Tanveer Ghani - Hospital Doctor; Gordon Gostelow - Priest; Dawn Keeler - Tweedy Woman; Francesca Longrigg - Nurse; Joanna Mays - Phillis Blokey; Vivienne McKone - Receptionist; Christopher Simon - Waiter; Kerryann White - Girl in Elevator; Lucy Boulting

Credit

Ray Cooper - Co-producer; David Dundas - Composer (Music Score); Peter Frampton - Makeup; Andrea Galer - Costume Designer; David Goruti - Choreography; Robyn Hamilton-Doney - Set Designer; Peter Hannan - Cinematographer; Henry Harris - Art Director; George Harrison - Producer; Michael Pickwoad - Production Designer; Bruce Robinson - Director; Bruce Robinson - Screenwriter; Alan Strachan - Editor; Daivd Toguri - Choreography; Rick Wentworth - Composer (Music Score); David Wimbury - Co-producer; Peter Kohn - First Assistant Director; Denis O'Brien - Producer; Reg Parsons - Gaffer; Bob Smith - Cinematographer; Kathy Sykes - Production Manager

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