Review #864: 'The Inbetweeners Movie' (2011)

Based on the immensely successful TV series that ran between 2008 and 2010 on E4, The Inbetweeners naturally made the leap to the big screen much to the appreciation of its fans, who obviously felt that 3 seasons was not nearly enough time to spend with it's four hopeless would-be lothario's. As with most TV-to-movie transitions, the added budget requires moving the setting to something bigger and more exotic, which means its a lad's holiday to Malia for Will (Simon Bird), Jay (James Buckley), Neil (Blake Harrison) and Simon (Joe Thomas), where they hope to find sun, sea and sex. "It'll be like shooting clunge in a barrel," as the ever-sensitive Jay delicately puts it.

After Will's father marries a much younger women, Jay inherits money from his grandfather's death, and Simon is dumped by his girlfriend Carli (Emily Head), Neil books the group a much-needed fortnight away in Crete. Only their accommodation is a run-down squalor with a dead dog in the water well, and the area seems to be populated by a lonesome weirdo, an angry hotel owner and lots of ants. Their first venture into the clubs leads them to a deserted bar where they meet four girls who are staying nearby. Will insults but manages to hit it off with the gorgeous Alison (Laura Haddock); Simon can't stop talking about his ex to Lucy (Tamla Kari); Neil is too interested in the older lady on the dancefloor to talk to Lisa (Jessica Knappett); which leaves Jay "stuck with the fat one" Jane (Lydia Rose Bewley).

I boycotted the show for years due to it's popularity, as I find that it never spells good news if everyone is discussing how funny a show is (see Gavin & Stacy for proof). Yet when I did catch it on late-night TV, it transported me back to my school days. The dialogue is consistently crude and ridiculously offensive, but tragically realistic. The boys' repulsiveness was offset by their naivety and innocence, especially when spoken by Jay, a compulsive liar with a mentally abusive father. The show was less appealing in its relentless cruelty; set-pieces involving shitting your pants during an exam or walking down a cat-walk with one testicle unknowingly hanging out tended to induce cringing rather than laughs.

Operating on a larger scale means that these set-pieces are more dominant, making the film more akin to American teen sex comedies such as Porky's (1982) or American Pie (1999) than the more observational TV show that brought us "bus wankers!", "ah, car fwend," and punching a fish to death. So rather than decent jokes and immature word-play, we get Jay masturbating with chicken-fillets and a gas mask and Neil's fingers working their way into an old slapper's knickers in the middle of a club. Still, while it makes little attempt to work outside the familiar tropes of the genre, it's funnier than most small-to-big screen transitions seen with British shows throughout the decades, with Bird and Buckley especially putting in decent performances.


Directed by: Ben Palmer
Starring: Simon Bird, James Buckley, Blake Harrison, Joe Thomas
Country: UK

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie