Film Reviews

The Inbetweeners Movie

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• Details: UK/96mins (16)

Historically, British TV has had a dislike/hate relationship with its movie adaptations: for every bad adaptation, there has been a worse one. The good news is that while The Inbetweeners Movie fails to improve on the slight but noticeable dip in form that was the third series, it's still cracking fun when it wants to be.
When he's unceremoniously dumped by girlfriend Carly (Emily Head), Simon (Thomas) is given a pick-me-up when Jay (Buckley) suggests a holiday in the sun. So they, along with friends (Ooh friend. Holiday friend.) Will (Bird) and Neil (Harrison), take off for Crete on the cheap, but disaster strikes: the hotel is a dive, they run out of cash and Carly is here too. Things look up when four girls take a shine to everyone's favourite teenage foursome, who admit they look like a crap boys band...
The Inbetweeners Movie taps into that first holiday sans parents. The long bus ride from the airport to the crap hotel. The towel/pool lounger situation. The naivety that the pretty girl in the street handing out flyers actually fancies you. Drinking too much the first night. Second night too. Bad dancing. Worse chat up lines. It's all here. Missing some of the elements that made the series work - the absence of the narky principal and the boys' parents was unavoidable - this outing finds itself stretched for material at times. But every time it descends into a lull, it's not long before something outlandish happens and it finds its groove again
In the pantheon of teen movies, with their crude musings on the opposite sex, The Inbetweeners is more American Pie than Breakfast Club, but to say that it's only about the gross out humour is to ignore the sweetness that bubbles up occasionally. In between the disgusting jokes (free from TV's constraints, writers Morris and Beesley let loose occasionally) and moments that make you cringe, its massive heart is always there. Brilliant.
Although it should satisfy fans while welcoming any would-be newcomers into the fold, the problem is it's all a bit obvious. Reading this you'll could probably guess half the jokes already. But, as Jay would point out, that would make us critic w**kers.

Review by Gavin Burke