The Inbetweeners Movie (2011)

Awkward adolescent antics rule in this feature length film from one of television’s most beloved comedies of the past decade.

The gang are back: Will, Simon, Neil and the infamous gutter-mouth Jay, and they are going on a lads holiday in Greece. In similar style to Kevin and Perry Go Large (2000), this is a Britain’s-youth-on-holiday, whereby a group of socially inept youngsters experience a coming-of-age whilst in Europe, and all the humiliation which comes with it. The Inbetweeners fly to Malia, where they hope to shed their embarrassing identities from the south of England, and become cool, attractive party-goers.

In true Inbetweeners style though, the reality soon catches up with our four unlikely lads, and bites them hard in the groin. Simon, always the most demoralized of the group, is attempting to deal with heartache from his long-life-love Carli, who also happens to be in Malia. Neil, on holiday from his girlfriend back home, experiences multiple sexual conquests with a variety of colourful characters whilst in Greece, including some older ladies. Will is his usual brilliantly intelligent self, which sees him get into plenty of trouble, and we see a throwback to one of his famous scenes when he ends up insulting the disabled…again. Then there is Jay. The mouth with a thousand stories, who finds himself torn between his sculptured image of being a legend, and letting himself fall for a larger lady.

Anyone who has not seen the Inbetweeners (where the hell have you been???) should definitely watch the TV series first, this is not the best example of how funny these guys can be. Whilst the main elements are there, the plot is too stretched out in order to cover the run time, and the character arcs which are necessary to make a compelling movie almost ruin our feelings towards them. The music, in places is very funny (especially during Neil’s expert choreography), but overall relies too heavily upon modern dance tracks, which alienates large sections of the audience.

The movie also builds towards a ridiculously happy conclusion, one which is totally incredulous. This being said, it is another worthy chapter of the Inbetweeners franchise, if only so that we don’t quite have to say goodbye to them. The delicate moments of maturation which these guys experience are very relevant, and extremely funny in places, and there is still plenty of vomit-inducing hilarity to go round.