How to Get Ahead in Advertising

1989 dark comedy

Rating: 17/20

Plot: Dennis is an advertising executive, and he's very good at it. Unfortunately, he's got a bit of writer's block and can't find the correct words to sell a pimple cream. He has a nervous breakdown, gets a pimple, watches in horror as that pimple becomes a second head, and is transformed into something more sinister.

This was pretty brilliant, subversive and provocative, and really funny. Richard E. Grant is so good in a role that would have been played by Nicolas Cage if Hollywood decided to make a remake of this. He's unhinged and delirious and spits out these terrific lines faster than you can grab at them. Like really good women's wrestling videos, you want to slow this down to make sure you catch everything. Grant had me at "I am an expert on tits--tits and peanut butter," but his later story about a grandfather molesting a wallaby sealed the deal. And the way he eats fish sticks during one scene? It's legendary, and that's not a word I use lightly. Of course, pretty much any movie featuring a talking boil is going to be right up my alley, but one made by the director of Withnail and I? I'm going to be all over that! The special effects for that were impressive, too. I loved this movie although it's probably not for everybody. Its message is timeless, just as scary now as it would have been over twenty years ago.