Four socially troubled 18-year-olds from the south of England go on holiday to Malia.Four socially troubled 18-year-olds from the south of England go on holiday to Malia.Four socially troubled 18-year-olds from the south of England go on holiday to Malia.
- Awards
- 2 wins & 4 nominations
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAnthony Head, who plays Will's dad, is the real-life father of Emily Head, who plays Carli D'Amato.
- GoofsAfter Jay and Simon argue and attempt to fight, Jay walks away and kicks a nearby metal bench. The bench is empty when he kicks it, but in the next zoomed-out shot a man is seen sitting on the bench.
- Quotes
Mr. Gilbert: This isn't The Dead Poets Society and I am not that bloke on bbc2 keeps getting kids to sing in choirs. I especially don't want to hear how well you are settling down at uni or how much growing up you have done in the past 12 months. At best I am ambivalent towards most of you, but some of you I actively dislike, for no other reason than your poor personal hygiene or your irritating personalities. I hope I have made myself clear on this point and in case any of you think I am joking, I am not. I assure you, once my legal obligation to look after you best interests is removed, I can be one truly nasty fucker. Good luck with the rest of your lives and try not to kill anyone, it reflects very badly on all of us here.
- Alternate versionsThere is an extended version with roughly 4 minuets of extra footage. This includes alternate narration by Will, Will, Simon and Neil going to the toilets before meeting the girls after the dance, Simon and Will spotting Mr Gilbert at a drinking contest, Simon and Jay fight again after finding out Jay ripped the cruise tickets.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Breakfast: Episode dated 16 August 2011 (2011)
- SoundtracksGimmie Love
Written by Craig Nicholls
Published by Chrysalis Music Ltd.
Performed by The Vines
Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment Australia Pty Ltd.
So, a quick recap. The premise is simple: we follow four friends on the fringe of social status, somewhere between the 'normal kids' and the 'freaks', as they meander their way through high school and its teenage perils. There's the nerdy but level-headed narrator Will (Simon Bird), selfish relationship-dependent Simon (Joe Thomas), compulsive liar and big-noter Jay (James Buckley) and lovable dimwit Neil (Blake Harrison). The film picks up, naturally, during the last day of school. The boys decide to book a party holiday to Greece to help Simon get over his break-up with Carli, but things get hairy when Simon, who is at the furthest point from being over his ex, spots her on the same trip.
If I had to justify why I loved this film with one sentence, it would be this: at no point does it stray from the formula that made the show so refreshing. The humour is there, as are the scenes of incredible social awkwardness, but this consistency begins with proper characterisation. Every fan of the show has a personal favourite, and should be pleased to hear that their move to the big screen has not coerced creators Beesley and Morris into thinking they should customise the characters to suit a wider audience. By the end of the film, each of the four is in an inherently better position in their life than they were two hours ago, but how they all get there remains entrenched in typical Inbetweeners fashion.
What does this mean exactly? It means that the screenplay puts individual character development on the backburner for most of the film, instead preferring to fill every scene with a truckload of jokes ranging from slapstick, the spoken word and a merciless array of cringe-worthy moments; the kind that have become the niche of the series. In any other genre this could be considered a sour point, but comedies are granted exceptions on the basis that they exist primarily to entertain, not to provide a moral, or indeed, much deep thinking at all. Does each character learn something about their life through their experience in Greece? Sure. Should we expect them to let the rest of their life be guided by these same profound moments of clarity? I doubt it.
Anyone even slightly familiar with the series would be aware of its unrelentingly crude subject matter, which some might interpret as vulgar or even offensive. That's a personal call, and while it doesn't concern my comedic sensibilities in the slightest, I must warn the more politically correct among us that this is not a movie for you. Few social taboos are left undisturbed, and when you couple this with the notion that filmmakers can get away with a lot more on the big screen (a saying that rings especially true for The Inbetweeners), it is recommended that fence-sitters have a long think about how they feel about the series, lest they return home with the unexplained compulsion to take a boiling hot bath and scrub until a little skin comes off.
If I had to make a couple of minor criticisms, I would say that a handful of party clichés are overdone (see: front-on shots of friends walking in slow- motion through a club with big grins on their faces) and that some realism is lost when Simon appears too gullible to be believed (you'll know it when you see it). However, these moments are few and far between, and fail to detract from making this the funniest movie I've seen in a good few years.
*There's nothing I love more than a bit of feedback, good or bad. So drop me a line on jnatsis@iprimus.com.au and let me know what you thought of my review.*
- Jonathon_Natsis
- Nov 16, 2011
Details
Box office
- Budget
- £3,500,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $36,000
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $36,000
- Sep 9, 2012
- Gross worldwide
- $88,823,111
- Runtime1 hour 37 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1