Withnail and eyeliner

Starring ex-Brookside star Anna Friel and Dawson Creek's Michelle Williams, this could have been a recipe for disaster.

This is Withnail and I for girls. It's a cringe-worthy, quirky tale of suburban mates in search of life and a bit of cred with the right amount of retrospective.

Heavily-styled to the dictations of the late 70s and then late 80s, each scene reads like an intriguing Corrine Day photograph.

Sandra Goldbacher's direction is realistic to the point of disbelief. It may not be everybody's reality, but authenticity seeps from the pores of each set, costume and piece of dialogue.

Marina (Friel) dons some fab Material Girl outfits, as Holly (Williams) follows in the shadows of her domineering, rebellious best-friend.

Now here's a warning to all twenty-something women who did a little too much living in their teens. This film is going to drag up some unpleasant memories. And some fond ones too.

Holly is in danger of losing her identity, which is fine by Marina who prefers her bosom buddy the way she is shy and mousy.

Goldbacher's ability to interweave the rigors of time, eras of change, and a pair of children soaring toward the brink of womanhood is effortless.

Well-cast Williams and Friel both possess extremely expressive faces. The former's clumsy, child-like features, too big for her face, convey confusion and questions, and Friel's doll like quality is befitting of the upstart in every little girl.

Their parallel comings-of-age take a difficult and unpleasant path. Marina's metamorphosis helps us believe in her growing pains; Friel delivers an extraordinary performance.

All the actors involved (though not big names) deliver case-studies of the human condition with unique flare.

The pace slows considerably in the second half and, at times, the navel gazing becomes self-indulgent. But overall, like Happiness and Heavenly Creatures, this is a valid project, and a joy to watch.

December 11, 2001 17:00