The return of Richard E. Grant

Jude Law is the biggest name connected with the caper comedy “Dom Hemingway,” acquired by Fox Searchlight, the studio announced Monday. But some moviegoers will be excited to see another name on the cast list: Richard E. Grant, star of the 1987 cult classic “Withnail & I.”

Grant played the title role in that film, a dark comedy about two struggling actors who embark on a debauched weekend in 1969. (Paul McGann played the unnamed “I.”) The movie became a cult classic thanks to Grant's unhinged performance as a self-aggrandizing troublemaker with a hedonistic streak and a gift for flowery speeches. His closing recitation of a Hamlet monologue (“What a piece of work is man!”), screamed at a den of wolves in London Zoo, was an unexpected tour-de-force.

By rights, Grant should have become the Steve Coogan of his day. Instead, he became a steady-working actor, popping up almost randomly in such movies as “Hudson Hawk,” “Gosford Park,” Madonna's “Filth and Wisdom” and “The Iron Lady.” 

In “Dom Hemingway,” however, he appears to have a major role opposite Law. Here is Fox Searchlight's description of the film:

“Dom Hemingway” is scheduled for release in 2014.