Powerful

Overrated

Beautiful, moving film.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

How to Get Ahead in AdvertisingThe best way to get ahead in advertising is to know the devil.Unfortunately, since the frazzled ad man in this comedy isn't acquitted with Lucifer, he will have to get a head literally.With a growing concern over the ethical nature of his profession, ad executive Bagley (Richard E. Grant) becomes mentally unhinged.While struggling to come up with a slogan for a zit cream, his mania is compounded by the appearance of a pustule on his shoulder that has begun to speak to him.In addition to the power of verbalization, over time, the abnormal abscess develops a mouth, eyes and a face, which is strikingly similar to his own, save for the moustache.A stimulating and surreal British satire, How To Get Ahead in Advertising is a paradigm of the psychological mindset needed to survive in marketing.Furthermore, having two heads means there's always someone to make-out with. (Green Light)

If you want nuance, you'll not find it here, subtlety, pah!!! No, it's laid on with a shovel as advertising executive Richard E Grant discovers advertising is more shallow than a paddling pool, and like said pool, if a toddler was unable to contain a lavatorial need, full of....well,you know what! The trouble is, although we see Grant having his breakdown, becoming obsessive and growing a boil which becomes his alter-ego, we do not see his journey, he's dubbed a success by everyone, but we do not see him succeed. We merely witness the repercussions of his desultory realisation that he's been part of the problem, rather than the solution.The idea of the talking boil is fun, but the scriptwriter/director didn't know whether to make it surreal, knockabout or farce, in the end sticking to what he perceives as satire. I'd have liked the themes to have been developed more - together with the two differing characters within the same body. We each see thousands of commercials on television, commercialisation is everywhere, referees and umpires have ads on their sleeves, I'm expecting the police to have sponsors' names on their trousers when they finally come to get me.This needed a little more subtlety, more comedy with the beautiful wife, who seemed discomforted by having sex with the brash alter-ego - that could have produced an amusing scene or three.It's much better that Robert Altman's unsuccessful parody of fashion, Pret-a-Porter, but uses a sledgehammer to lance a boil.

This film is destined to become a cult favorite thanks to its edgy delivery and clever use of Orwell's plot structure. The other reviews seem to not mention that understanding the true depth of this movie relies on being familiar with 1984 and its themes. In a way this movie IS the true 1984 since it tackles the dishonesty in consumerism which we are only now coming to grips with. If being labeled "Orwellian" signifies a Totalitarian idea, than this movie deserves credit for whatever term future-people designate for a consumerist idea.Following 1984 point-to-point, we are introduced to our protagonist as a true believer (and perpetrator), follow him through his discovery and internal dilemma, and then the eventual succumbing to the culture of the times (however unwillingly)."How to Get Ahead in Advertising" is truly a thoughtful and clever piece, however wordy and hard to follow at times; appreciating it really does depend on how aware the viewer is of what is going on, and what it is trying to say about Consumerism's purpose and origins.

Like an intensive dinner-party guest, this film will keep you uncomfortably entertained. Don't worry about making conversation or serving it crepes, because Bruce Robinson has produced a beast that lives inside big brother, but sounds and looks like a siren sister.Richard E Grant is imperious as the sociopathic marketing executive, Dennis Bagley, charged with the challenge of selling pimple cream. Knowing that to sell a product that eliminated pimples would also eradicate the need to sell the product, he is stuck in a horrific mental block. Super-articulate, domineering and ingenious, Dennis is, in the words of his wife, 'an incarnation of evil with a briefcase.'With that assessment firmly in mind, let me ask you a question. How long can you hear Bagley's diatribes against consumer culture and human folly before you are attracted to him? If you breathe air, marketing works on you. Because is there not something proactive and self-aware about Dennis? Really? So don't you think you're influenced by the opinion of others? No chance of being hypnotised or attracted to sparkly ideas? Sure you aren't just a hybrid mass of other people?Maybe, then, you're a social retard or a sociopath. Which head looks uglier, I ask you? I know which one I'd rather invite to a dinner party.