How to Get Ahead in Advertising

Critics Consensus

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60%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 15

78%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 4,937
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Movie Info

Richard E. Grant is a tyro of bile in Bruce Robinson's stunningly abrasive satire How To Get Ahead in Advertising. Grant plays Dennis Bagley, a belligerent and dynamic advertising executive who suffers a creative block when he is unable to figure out how to market a new pimple and boil remedy. As he points out, "Everybody knows that there is no product on the market which can cure a boil except the person who has one." Living at a country estate with his beautiful and caring wife Julia (Rachel Ward), Bagley ponders the pimple account over a weekend in which a dinner party is planned for a group of shallow acquaintances. At the dinner party, Bagley goes off the deep end -- ranting against his guests and the base money-lust of the advertising world. After Bagley's breakdown, he develops a physical manifestation of his mental turmoil -- a boil on his shoulder. The boil grows bigger and bigger until it sprouts eyes, teeth and a mustache and begins to lecture him in a surly and clipped tone of voice. It grows as big as Bagley's own head and it gets to the point where Bagley can't tell which is the head and which is the boil.
  • Rating:
    R
  • Genre:
    Comedy
  • Directed By:
    Bruce Robinson
  • Written By:
    Bruce Robinson
  • In Theaters:
     wide
  • On Disc/Streaming:
  • Runtime:
  • Studio:
    Image Entertainment

Cast

Richard E. Grant
as Denis Dimbleby Bagley
Rachel Ward
as Julia Bagley
Richard Wilson
as John Bristol
Jacqueline Tong
as Penny Wheelstock
John Shrapnel
as Psychiatrist
Susan Wooldridge
as Monica
Mick Ford
as Richard
Jacqueline Pearce
as Maud
Lucy Boulting
Roddy Maude-Roxby
as Dr. Gatty
Pauline Melville
as Mrs. Wallace
Christopher Simon
as Waiter
Rachel Fielding
as Jennifer
Tony Slattery
as Basil
Pip Torrens
as Jonathan
Gino Melvazzi
as Waiter
Gordon Gostelow
as Priest
Sean Bean
as Larry Frisk
Hugh Armstrong
as Harry Wax
Vivienne McKone
as Receptionist
Francesca Longrigg
as Nurse
Tanveer Ghani
as Hospital Doctor
Donald Hoath
as Businessman
John Levitt
as Businessman
Joanna Mays
as Phillis Blokey
Vivienne McKonne
as Receptionist
Victor Lucas
as Tweedy Man
Dawn Keeler
as Tweedy Woman
Kerryann White
as Girl in Elevator
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Critic Reviews for How to Get Ahead in Advertising

All Critics (15) | Top Critics (1) | Fresh (9) | Rotten (6)

View All Critic Reviews (15)

Audience Reviews for How to Get Ahead in Advertising

  • May 25, 2013
    Richard e.grant good. good script. preachy
    Sanity Assassin ! Super Reviewer
  • Oct 27, 2011
    One of my favorite films and for sure one of the best comedic performances is put in by Richard E. Grant. Actually I am very surprised by all the negative reviews I've read on here.
    Graham J Super Reviewer
  • May 13, 2011
    I'm not really sure why I watched this movie, it was so strange. It was interesting at the beginning but by the end I just didn't care anymore.
    Megan S Super Reviewer
  • Mar 14, 2011
    About to suffer a nervous breakdown due to a looming deadline to create a pimple cream campaign, a hot shot advertising exec grows a boil on his neck, which soon develops a face and a nasty personality. Does he need a dermatologist, or a psychologist? This weird and witty advertising satire from the director of WITHNAIL AND I has been sadly neglected over the years.
    Greg S Super Reviewer
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