Review: The Inbtweeners Movie (15) ****

BAFTA award-winning television series The Inbetweeners proved a huge ratings success, chronicling the misadventures of four teenage lads whose main quest was to get drunk and pull girls. Now the boys make the move to the big screen in the succinctly titled The Inbetweeners Movie.
By Damon Smith
Published 19th Aug 2011, 12:58 BST

This time the characters are off on their first holiday to Malia, Crete, with no parents, no teachers, no money and as little chance with the ladies as ever. If you’re a fan of the show, then you’re going to find a lot to enjoy on their overseas adventure but writers Damon Beesley and Iain Morris, who penned the TV series, also succeed in creating a standalone feature that’s sure to delight and shock a new audience.

The film opens on a sweeping aerial shot of suburbia, the camera moving swiftly along streets and houses in a way that’s impossible to achieve on the small screen. We’re reintroduced to pompous Will (Simon Bird) as he is being berated by his father (Anthony Head); the gormless but perpetually happy Neil (Blake Harrison) packing up his supermarket shift mid-service; the ever boastful and lusty Jay (James Buckley) getting discovered by his mum in a compromising position involving ham; and a heartbroken Simon (Joe Thomas), in tears because he has been dumped.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

As the four wave goodbye to Rudge Park Comprehensive, the scene of so much humiliation, they decide they need a proper lads’ holiday to reinvent themselves. It’s always tricky to expand a TV set-up to the silver screen.but the writers, along with the director Ben Palmer, have succeeded. There are a few scenes that fall flat, but there’s also a lot to savour. Rude and cringe-inducing, the writers haven’t been afraid to slow the pace down to allow for the odd poignant moment too.

The film won’t be to everyone’s tastes but if you’re after a reminder of the perils of being young, then you’re sure to enjoy this celebration of the ordinary teenager – in all its messy glory.