The Inbetweeners Movie (15) ***

Aug 21 2011 by Roz Laws, Sunday Mercury

THE INBETWEENERS MOVIE (15)

HHHII

CAST: Simon Bird, James Buckley, Blake Harrison, Joe Thomas, Laura Haddock

PLOT: Fans of the TV show know the four friends well by now. They’ve just left school, after an amusing farewell speech by Greg Davies as their ‘lunatic giant’ teacher. When Simon (Thomas) is dumped by girlfriend Carli (Emily Head), he goes to pieces. His mates try to cheer him up by taking him on a drunken lads’ holiday to Malia in Crete.

Nerdy but lovable Will (Bird) wants to visit ancient ruins but does manage to get some interaction with a girl when pretty Alison (Haddock) chats to him. Even if she says: “You’re not normal, are you?” What a shame she has a Greek waiter boyfriend.

Simon is distracted when Carli shows up in Malia and does his best to win her back, while idiot beanpole Neil (Harrison) is happy doing his comical dancing, which attracts hordes of middle-aged women.

Deluded and highly annoying Jay (Buckley) thinks he can sleep with any girl he chooses. I’m not surprised he gets a slap in the face.

GOOD POINTS: There are some genuinely funny lines which made me chuckle. The boys are idiots but their friendship (when they’re not hurling insults and hitting each other where it hurts) is quite sweet.

BAD POINTS: The humour is very hit and miss. The constant childish references to sex gets wearing and some ‘eww’ gross moments are painful to watch.

The simplistic, thin and repetitive has an entirely predictable outcome, although I would have liked a nasty holiday rep to get a bigger comeuppance than the one he received.

SHOULD I SEE IT? Yes, if you’re an Inbetweeners fan – you’ll love this chance to say goodbye to the boys, as this is expected to be their final outing. Other cinemagoers, who aren’t teenage boys, may find parts of it fun but ultimately not be that entertained.