If you haven’t seen the British TV series The Inbetweeners you have sorely missed out on some of the best television comedy to come out of Britain in years; it’s snappy, irreverent and downright juvenile in the very best way. The Tv show won Best Sitcom at the 2011 British Comedy Awards and has been nominated twice for BAFTAs. Typically, NZ network television scheduled it late night on a week day and hoped no-one would notice – keeping shows about talentless idiots auditioning to sing in the prime-time slots instead.
Inbetweeners centers around four teenage lads at the end of their high school years - Will, played by Simon Bird narrates the show also, and he reminds me of a teenage version of David Mitchell (Peep show). The show takes risks that other television sit-coms just don’t – it’s what teenage boys are like – they talk about “clange” and wanking and they don’t shy away from the odd full frontal willy and balls shot.
But enough about the TV series – I went to a preview screening of The Inbetweeners The Movie – with a mixture of both eager excitement and trepidation – how would this excellent TV comedy last as a feature length movie? An hour and a half of side splitting laughter later, i can report – very bloody well, actually. It avoids any awkward back-story explanations for viewers who haven’t seen the TV show but at the same time doesn’t rely on a prior knowledge for in-jokes that you might not get if you haven’t seen it.
The premise of the movie is simple and not overly original – someone already dubbed the story line British Pie in reference to the 1999 American teen comedy – the four lads, to celebrate their leaving high school, take a summer holiday in Malia, Crete on a mission… ”It’ll be like shooting clunge in a barrel,” as Jay puts it.
It’s crude, rude, fast paced and brilliant.
In cinemas Oct 27th
Watch the trailer here :
Roadshow Films and Cheese on Toast are giving you the chance to WIN 1 of 3 double passes to see THE INBETWEENERS MOVIE – Click here to find out how!
