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How To Get Ahead in Advertising - Criterion Collection
 
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How To Get Ahead in Advertising - Criterion Collection (1989)

Starring: Hugh Armstrong, Sean Bean Rating: R (Restricted) Format: DVD
4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)

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Product Details

  • Actors: Hugh Armstrong, Sean Bean, Rachel Fielding, Mick Ford, Richard E. Grant
  • Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
  • Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
  • Subtitles: English
  • Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Rating: R (Restricted)
  • Studio: Criterion
  • DVD Release Date: July 10, 2001
  • Run Time: 94 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00005JH9E
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #103,061 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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  • For more information about "How To Get Ahead in Advertising - Criterion Collection" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
After the release of Withnail & I, British writer-director Bruce Robinson continued his satirical assault on British culture with this fiendishly funny rant, the title of which can be taken figuratively and literally as an object lesson in the art of consumer manipulation. Nobody dupes consumers better than Dennis Bagley (Richard E. Grant); his genius in crafting seductive ad campaigns has earned him a country estate, countless awards, an admiring boss, a loving wife (Rachel Ward), and, well, a gigantic boil on his shoulder that's like a throbbing zit from hell. Dennis is so tormented by a difficult campaign for pimple cream--and so filled with self-loathing after years of promoting dubious products--that his inner demon, the media-savvy and profiteering side of himself, has manifested itself as a talking pustule with a mind (and a face and a voice) of its own.

Robinson's scathing critique of mindless consumerism begins with one of the funniest monologues ever written, and Grant instantly claims his role with manic perfection. A time bomb of repressed anxiety, Dennis blossoms in righteous protest against his profession, only to find his evil boil growing dominant, worrying his wife (Ward's performance is charmingly sympathetic), and inevitably seizing control. The movie's message is obvious and heavy-handed, and Robinson's blazing wit grows increasingly bilious and urgent, but you can't blame him for sniping at easy targets. As corporate synergy and rampant commercialism reach insane proportions, How to Get Ahead in Advertising grows more relevant than ever, holding a mirror to the grotesqueries of capitalism in extremis. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description
Richard E. Grant is the endlessly suave Dennis Bagley, a high-strung advertising executive whose shoulder sprouts an evil, talking boil. The boil speaks only to Bagley, is silent to the rest of the world, and seems to be growing. This caustic satire reunites the talented team behind the cult classic Withnail and I to create a tour de force of verbal jousting and physical comedy.

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Customer Reviews

21 Reviews
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 (10)
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Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (21 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Witty, Satirical, Brilliant, and Fun!, May 7, 2000
This review is from: How to Get Ahead in Advertising [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Richard E. Grant as Bagley brings to the film both his best and most outrageous performance. As the slick advertising salesman, Bagley is the cold-hearted business man who would see his own mother lose all her teeth if he thought it would sell more denture cream. The brilliant opening scene has him announcing that we want to sell them 30% less [of fat] and 20% more [of nutrition]; they are selling an image and idea, not a product! Bagley begins to second guess his profession and when the idea of having to come up with a boil cream begins to make his conscience ill, he opts to quit in pursuit of higher ideals.

It is then, that the supernatural takes over, and Bagley gets a boil on his neck that he believes has begun to turn into a face, causing him to go utterly insane to the horror of his wife who sees nothing but the boil. The insanity multiplies and the boil becomes Bagley's evil advertising alter-ego, and the insanity delves into the depths of all that is great in British black humour.

The boil-alter-ego finally takes over the reformed Bagley identity, and Bagley becomes much worse than he'd ever been.

The script is poignant, if not a little bit preachy on the evils of advertising. But Richard E. Grant gives his heart and soul to make the character fully dimensional and incredibly funny. His insanity is put in perfect perspective by his wife, played sublimely by Rachel Ward, who is as supportive and understanding as she can to a husband who seems to have gone over the brink.

For the originality, commentary, wittiness, acting, quotable dialogue, and pure insanity, this has been one of my favourite movies ever. It's no Citizen Kane (do people really like that movie, anyway! ), but it is without a doubt a must-see, just for the experience!

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars one of the funniest films ever made, June 12, 2006
By Raegan Butcher (RainCity, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: How to Get Ahead In Advertising (DVD)
This movie is a riot. Richard E Grant gives an amazingly intense performance. His entire role seems to consist of nothing but brilliantly scabrous monologues. His acerbic take on everything around him starts at a fever pitch and then giddily topples over into outright inspired lunacy. See this film if for no other reason than to get a glimpse of him naked save for a kitchen apron, gleefully stuffing raw chickens down the toilet drain and all the while explaining, " Everything I do makes sense, everything i do has a reason!"

I prefer this style of over the top attack much more than the drier and more subtle (!) mode employed by both writer-director Bruce Robinson and Richard E. Grant in their first collaboration, WITHNAIL & I.

The heights of comic outlandishness achieved in HOW TO GET AHEAD IN ADVERTISING is something that is rarely achieved by any film and it is doubly commendable that everything done here ( no matter how tastelessly crazy) still never stoops to the childishly vulgar levels that most American comedies regularly splash about in like mental asylum inmates happily playing with their own feces. Yes, despite everything this film attempts ( and achieves) it still retains a sense of sophistication that shows what thuddingly awful garbage ( i am looking directly at you AUSTIN POWERS, SCARY MOVIE, etc, etc) is usually regarded as the height of comedy. This film knocks them all dead.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Insanely fun, with the emphasis on insane, August 22, 2001
HOW TO GET AHEAD IN ADVERTISING is a wonderfully over-the-top piece of hilarious satire. The always entertaining Richard E. Grant plays a stressed-out advertising executive who finally snaps and begins arguing with a head that conveniently grows out of his shoulder. As this was written and directed by Bruce Robinson (the same man behind WITHNAIL & I) you can be sure that every line of dialogue sounds like obscene poetry and Grant delivers each of these with exactly the right amount of pure manic energy.

The humor present here is very dark, and at times could be described as disturbing, so this may not be for everyone's tastes. Obviously, a comedy that centers around an ordinary man accidentally growing a second head isn't going to be something that's geared towards everyone's liking, but if you enjoy off-beat humour and outrageous satire, then this is probably something that will delight you. There's certainly a lot to recommend: the acting is wonderful, the direction is very assured and the writing sparkles. This is one of the few films in which it is almost impossible to predict what will be happening next. Sharply critical of advertising, capitalism, industry, commerce, and half a dozen other subjects, this is something that will make you think in the few moments when it isn't making you laugh.

DVD notes: The film is presented in wide-screen. It looks great and sounds just as good. There isn't much of anything in the way of extras, though it does contain the original theatrical trailer.

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 		 Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars bizarre and hilarious
One of my three favorite movies (along with Dr. Strangelove and Brutti Sporchi e Cattivi.) Just when you think the movie cannot get any more bizarre than it already is, it does... Read more
Published 2 months ago by G. mays

4.0 out of 5 stars Important to watch
Bill Hicks said "if you're in marketing, do us all a favor and shoot yourself". If you've seen How to get ahead in advertising, you'd know exactly what he meant. Read more
Published on August 27, 2005 by Mark A. Gallagher

1.0 out of 5 stars Its a talking boil
Its a movie about a talking boil....what more do you need to know?
Published on December 3, 2004 by T. Ziolkowski

4.0 out of 5 stars Very funny but also weird.
This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.

"How to Get Ahead in Advertising" in one of the most original comedies I have seen... Read more
Published on July 30, 2004 by Ted M.

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilariously bitter comedy
Bruce Robinson, made a hit with with this movie. A pimple will be more than a simple headache of an important executive who falls on disgrace. Read more
Published on May 21, 2004 by Hiram Gomez Pardo

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant and Inspired
Well Bruce Robinson has done it again. After engaging us with classic 'Withnail and I' he has produced a prophetic film that says more about the way we live and those that... Read more
Published on September 20, 2002

4.0 out of 5 stars Good vs. Evil?
How To Get Ahead in Advertising is a very interesting film based on human dualism. Denis Dimbleby Bagley (Robert E. Read more
Published on July 16, 2002 by Kim Anehall

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth taking a look at.
I found How to Get a Head in Advertising, very original and funny. It wasn't as great as Withnail and I, but not far off. Read more
Published on February 22, 2002 by mrblack999

3.0 out of 5 stars HEADS UP
Writer-directer Bruce Robinson and Richard E. Grant team up again in this decidedly dark and farcical look at TV advertising. Read more
Published on August 2, 2001 by Robin Simmons

3.0 out of 5 stars DEAD RINGERS
Nothing exciting about this Criterion release : english subtitles, liner notes and a theatrical trailer, that's all. Read more
Published on July 28, 2001 by wdanthemanw

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