An unpleasantly and aggressively self-absorbed and smug fantasy, a straightforward pastiche uninterested in exploring its tropes or using them in anything resembling a new context. At a fundamental level, it's not even interested in what these tropes mean, hence the complaints about the female characters (which could be extended to any element of the writing - I doubt anyone would disagree that Edgar Wright is a far better director than writer).

For a film that's been hyped as a nonstop…

I know several people whose opinions I respect that have loved this film and even rate it among their favourites, but having read the book and now having seen the movie I’m still at the same conclusion, that Chris McCandless was at times an insufferable prick who believed he was some divine combination of Thoreau and Jack London. He didn’t deserve to die for this stupidity (many his age think they're indestructible) but he doesn’t deserve to be mythologised either.…

I like my substance abuse surrounded by dry British humour (though I'm not really a fan of Trainspotting). Withnail & I is full of narcissism, paranoia and gleeful disobedience but also a sense of despair - an understanding this lifestyle is unsustainable and self-destructive - adding the pathos that makes a comedy last. You can tell it was based on real experiences (of the writer-director, Bruce Robinson, who hasn't done that many films, but I really need to check out How…