the film holds a 94% "fresh" rating, and an average rating of 8.5 out of 10 from critic website rotten tomatoes. in august 2009 "the observer" polled 60 eminent british film filmmakers and film critics who voted it the second best british film of the last 25 years. the film was also ranked number 118 in empire's 500 greatest films of all time list. in 2009 critic roger ebert added the film to his "great movies" list, describing grant's performance as a "tour de force" and withnail as "one of the iconic figures in modern films."