The Inbetweeners Movie (2011)

After the huge success of the Inbetweeners TV show it seemed inevitable a film would be made to say a final farewell to the boys. After being dumped by the love of his life, Simon (Joe Thomas) decides to go on a lad’s holiday to Malia with his mates Will (Simon Bird), Jay (James Buckley) and Neil (Blake Harrison). The guys are hoping for “sun, sea, sand, sex, booze and sex” but what they get is rubbish hotels, OAPs and embarrassing sunburns.

The lads have made a successful transition from television to cinema and the audience will find themselves knee deep in crude jokes and hilarious performances. The adventures of the four lustful lads on a booze-drenched holiday contain enough hilarious gags to fill out the extended time they normally don’t get in the television series. The introduction to the boys starts off in England as they reach their last day of school and are given a hilarious send off by their headmaster (surely all headmasters would love to give a send-off like Mr Gilberts?) We also get to see the rest of the excellent supporting characters from the TV show turn up in the first 10 minutes before the guys head off on a holiday of a lifetime.

The show always had strength in depth and the film is no different: the four girls they meet on holiday are well fleshed-out ladies (in terms of performance and not actual size) They all provide great punch-lines of their own and are far more than just eye candy for the lads. But of course it’s the four lads we came to see and they don’t let us down. They deliver a believable portrait of young blokes growing up amongst all the booze and vomit. The performances from Bird, Buckley, Thomas and Harrison are spot on. They all have hilarious set-pieces – the dance off scenes to impress the girls are pure comedy gold. But they also have some emotional moments, including a scene where the guys realise that this is maybe the last time they will all be together.

There were fears that the Inbetweeners movie would be awful, with a feeling that most British teenage films turn out to be, well, rubbish. But this is no Kevin & Perry Go Large (2000) and screenwriters Iain Morris and Damian Beesley should be congratulated for making a film that is much closer to great American youth films like American Pie (1999) and Superbad (2007).

Yes the film suffers from repetition and it’s fair to say the film is just an extra-long episode of the show. But that’s what the fans wanted, a film that is a fitting end to a great show and one that offers continuous gags and hilarious moments throughout. Hands down the best British teenage comedy in years and possibly the best comedy you’ll see this summer.