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The Inbetweeners Movie
Other | Thursday 28th July 2011 | Osh
After three and a half years of being one of the most insanely hilarious British sitcoms in recent memory, it's time for Will (Simon Bird), Simon (Joe Thomas), Jay (James Buckley) and Neil (Blake Harrison) to try their luck at the silver screen. The transition from a successful TV show in to a successful film is a tricky one, but the people behind The Inbetweeners Movie are notable for their complete lack of dicking around. And while they obviously wanted to get a movie out before the main cast (all of whom are now mid to late twenties) decide to grow beards, there does seem to be a genuine sense of pride and passion for the shows accomplishments that's missing from the benign cash cows that were the Sex and the City movies.
For those new to it all, The Inbetweeners followed the lives of four teenagers: posh boy Will, hopeless romantic Simon, sex-obsessed Jay and dim-witted Neil. While not exactly on the bottom of their schools' social ladder, these guys do get a hard time of it, whether from one of the schools many bullies or their manic principal Mr. Gilbert (Greg Davies). The show was rude, crude and flat-out hilarious, but also had an enjoyably bleak tone that masterfully depicted just how hard and (dare I say) boring being an adolescent can be. Having had its third and final season finish up this year, the shows swan-song has now arrived. But can it do justice to a show that single handedly kicked off the phenomenon of people shouting “Bus wankers!” from the safety of their car windows? Of course it can.
The Inbetweeners Movie is basically an extended episode of the award-winning show. With school over, and Simon dumped by his girlfriend Carli (Emily Head), the boys decide to go on a bonkers “lads” trip to Crete. And from thereon in, the film is mercilessly entertaining. It takes the best parts of the shows' three series and cranks them up tenfold; the humour is even bawdier, Jay's euphemisms are even less ambiguous than before and all the boys get in to some kind of despicable trouble. The chemistry between the central quartet has always been one of the shows main selling points and that hasn't changed here. Despite the exotic location,it's the brilliant sense of familiarity that these four bring that makes the whole thing feel natural. A fitting end to a much-loved show.
