Jason KingTHE INBETWEENERS: A Review
December 2nd 2011 05:13
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Welcome to Special Guest Salty writer ANNA
Category: Reviews
Due to the busy schedule of the Salty leader I was double booked last week for some special screenings and was devastated to miss this one but gave my tickets to a friend who agreed to step in as a guest writer and attend the Australian premiere of THE INBETWEENERS so it is with a HUGE thanks to Anna for attending this screening and spending the time to write a review of the film.
You're never watching The Inbetweeners for life-changing revelations or explanation of the deep seeded psychology of teen boys. You're watching to remind yourself of how truly awkward and painful high school was, or can be. The movie, an ending to the three season series, is no exception and often feels like an extended episode, which is no bad thing, given how terribly these things can go (75% of Saturday Night Live movies, I'm looking at you). In that respect, this is a winner. Any fan of the series can look forward to more (talk of) clunge than writers Damon Beesley and Iain Morris can fit in their allotted time.
I'm not giving too much away to say that in their final school weeks, the boys face events that make them decide to get away for a while to celebrate the end of school and get over their respective dramas. And when you see the corpse like Mr Gilbert (Garry Davies) give the final farewell speech to the (lucky to be leaving) Rudge High class and we see Neil (Blake Harrison), Simon (Joe Thomas), Jay (James Buckley) and a 'who-me?' Will (Simon Bird), all happily wandering away, if not into adulthood, then to the next stage, you just know that that's not going to happen quickly.
During one of the most elaborate masturbation setups I've ever seen on film, Jay learns of his Grandfather's death; Will finds out on a visit that his dad has remarried the woman he left his mum for and didn't invite him, and Carli dumps Simon in a 'naw, give the boy a hug!' moment. So reliably dim Neil books them on a holiday to Malia in Crete and they're off, on a middle of the night flight, in matching pink Pussy Patrol T-Shirts with equally offensive names on the back. You can see that this is Brit-boys-Abroad territory and the proceeding shenanigans all fit within the mould - the terrible accommodation; the stereotypical girls they meet; the throwing out of the resort after a disabled person dissing; the hot chick enticing the boys into an empty club; the in-your-face self fellatio show (yes, they did go there) - but you don't care.
When Simon keeps 'seeing' Carli everywhere, it's revealed that Neil asked her where they were going so decided to book the trip there. While Neil keeps getting jiggy with geriatrics, you just want to pat his grinning, oblivious head, and I haven't laughed out loud at a scene like his dance-led charge across the dance-floor with the boys in tow for a damn long time. Will is as ever the stoic, uncertain and smart-arse young old man and Simon is puppy-dog keen and naive enough to get his kit off to sell, in order to fund a ticket on a cruise that he thinks will win Carli back.
Which brings me to the girls of the show - Alison, Lisa, Lucy and Jane. Why any of these girls would put up with any of the shit these boys give them is beyond me, but as I've said stereotypes abound and I'm obviously bringing a bit of me to the movie too. So, each girl is a counterpart of the boys, with the exception of the gorgeous Alison, the leader, who is dating a Greek waiter, and smart and funny and a very good match for Will, boyfriend aside. Jay's match is a largish girl with the biggest personality of the group, Neil's girl, well she's forgettably mousey and Simon's match is the most normal of the lot, despite being repeatedly ignored by Simon in his relentless pursuit of Carli.
The secret of The Inbetweener's success as a movie is that they're teenage boys, they act like teenage boys and they think like teenage boys. So there's a bit of boof when things get tense, there's easy forgiveness and there's lots of booze and trying-hard-to-get laid the rest of the time. Puerile at times, funny most of the time and occasionally acutely insightful, if you like the series, you'll love the movie.
The Inbetweeners is out NOW and well worth a viewing judging by Anna's review and the fact the TV show is frigging awesome. I can't wait to see it and as Anna hasn't scored it out of 10 I will go with the Rotten Tomatoes score of 7 out of 10
Big thanks again to Anna for helping the good ship Salty Popcorn keep afloat Stay tuned for Anna's review of The Descendants in the next few days and have a kick ass weekend!
You're never watching The Inbetweeners for life-changing revelations or explanation of the deep seeded psychology of teen boys. You're watching to remind yourself of how truly awkward and painful high school was, or can be. The movie, an ending to the three season series, is no exception and often feels like an extended episode, which is no bad thing, given how terribly these things can go (75% of Saturday Night Live movies, I'm looking at you). In that respect, this is a winner. Any fan of the series can look forward to more (talk of) clunge than writers Damon Beesley and Iain Morris can fit in their allotted time.
I'm not giving too much away to say that in their final school weeks, the boys face events that make them decide to get away for a while to celebrate the end of school and get over their respective dramas. And when you see the corpse like Mr Gilbert (Garry Davies) give the final farewell speech to the (lucky to be leaving) Rudge High class and we see Neil (Blake Harrison), Simon (Joe Thomas), Jay (James Buckley) and a 'who-me?' Will (Simon Bird), all happily wandering away, if not into adulthood, then to the next stage, you just know that that's not going to happen quickly.
During one of the most elaborate masturbation setups I've ever seen on film, Jay learns of his Grandfather's death; Will finds out on a visit that his dad has remarried the woman he left his mum for and didn't invite him, and Carli dumps Simon in a 'naw, give the boy a hug!' moment. So reliably dim Neil books them on a holiday to Malia in Crete and they're off, on a middle of the night flight, in matching pink Pussy Patrol T-Shirts with equally offensive names on the back. You can see that this is Brit-boys-Abroad territory and the proceeding shenanigans all fit within the mould - the terrible accommodation; the stereotypical girls they meet; the throwing out of the resort after a disabled person dissing; the hot chick enticing the boys into an empty club; the in-your-face self fellatio show (yes, they did go there) - but you don't care.
When Simon keeps 'seeing' Carli everywhere, it's revealed that Neil asked her where they were going so decided to book the trip there. While Neil keeps getting jiggy with geriatrics, you just want to pat his grinning, oblivious head, and I haven't laughed out loud at a scene like his dance-led charge across the dance-floor with the boys in tow for a damn long time. Will is as ever the stoic, uncertain and smart-arse young old man and Simon is puppy-dog keen and naive enough to get his kit off to sell, in order to fund a ticket on a cruise that he thinks will win Carli back.
Which brings me to the girls of the show - Alison, Lisa, Lucy and Jane. Why any of these girls would put up with any of the shit these boys give them is beyond me, but as I've said stereotypes abound and I'm obviously bringing a bit of me to the movie too. So, each girl is a counterpart of the boys, with the exception of the gorgeous Alison, the leader, who is dating a Greek waiter, and smart and funny and a very good match for Will, boyfriend aside. Jay's match is a largish girl with the biggest personality of the group, Neil's girl, well she's forgettably mousey and Simon's match is the most normal of the lot, despite being repeatedly ignored by Simon in his relentless pursuit of Carli.
The secret of The Inbetweener's success as a movie is that they're teenage boys, they act like teenage boys and they think like teenage boys. So there's a bit of boof when things get tense, there's easy forgiveness and there's lots of booze and trying-hard-to-get laid the rest of the time. Puerile at times, funny most of the time and occasionally acutely insightful, if you like the series, you'll love the movie.
The Inbetweeners is out NOW and well worth a viewing judging by Anna's review and the fact the TV show is frigging awesome. I can't wait to see it and as Anna hasn't scored it out of 10 I will go with the Rotten Tomatoes score of 7 out of 10
Big thanks again to Anna for helping the good ship Salty Popcorn keep afloat Stay tuned for Anna's review of The Descendants in the next few days and have a kick ass weekend!| 19 |
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