The Inbetweeners Movie (2011)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

I can imagine there are those who have not heard of The Inbetweeners, after all, it has been well hidden away on E4 for its three-series run. However, I can't imagine there are that many people who have seen the show and not enjoyed the film. If you've watched the series, you'll love the film. If you haven't seen a TV episode then I advice you to borrow a DVD from a friend (ask around - someone will have one) and check it out first.And, even if you haven't seen the TV series, this is pretty good fun. I guess its target audience is mainly young men who have lived through those precarious teenage years of uncertainty, drinking and (attempted) womanising. Women seem to enjoy it too - mainly because the four male stars continue to make a fool of themselves. In fact, I don't know any person under 35 who doesn't like it. The only people I've met who don't 'get it' are my mum and a friend's mum. There's a reason it's one of the highest-grossing British comedies of all time and that's because it's pretty damn funny!Basically, it's about four lads who leave school and go on a drunken holiday to the a Greek island (I forget which one). There, they get into all manner of embarrassing scrapes. As it says on the sleeve - think American Pie meets Peep Show. There are plenty of cringe-worthingly bad moments for the stars and expect a fair amount of bad language, nudity and plenty of laughs. Basically, it's like everything that a Richard Curtis movie isn't!I found it like what a 'Carry On...' film might be like if it was written today and the humour carries over from the TV series well - you'll laugh out loud more often than not. It does slow a bit towards the end, but it's definitely more hit than miss.Also, it teaches a guy not to put too much gel in his hair and don't pass out face down on an ants' nest.

The Inbetweeners was a sitcom that wasn't only incredibly funny, but felt so real and so honest. Every British student either knew a Will, Jay, Neil or Simon or- more painfully- were similar to them themselves so it may be a gut-burstingly hysterical comedy, but it's also an effective, entirely believable tragicomic drama. Like many TV show movies, this has the boys go on holiday together and chaos soon ensues. Overall this was disappointing and is probably the worst episode/movie of the entire Inbetweeners series. Simon is being a complete moron and the show works far better in a mundane British setting. This just feels formulaic, reliant on crude jokes and overly Americanized. It's not actually a very funny movie. It's got its moments but it's never truly memorable. As a story, it would have ended the entire series very well. It's great to see the 4 boys with girlfriends at last and the conclusion of the film is undeniably very satisfying. Overall, this is a well-done, often touching narrative with plenty of surprisingly sweet moments, but as a comedy it isn't very funny. 6/10

WARNING: IF YOU HAVE GOT TOO MUCH TIME IN YOUR LIFE TO WASTE AND ARE LOOKING FOR JOKES DESIGNED FOR KIDS UNDER THE AGE OF 10, THEN GO AHEAD AND WATCH THIS MOVIE. I decided to watch this movie because of its high star rating, as a result I wasted 90 minutes of my life on this horrible 'comedy'.The jokes are extremely lame. The actors' attempts to have awkward conversations with the girls are unnatural which makes it extremely difficult to laugh. For funny awkward conversations with girls, Jonah Hill and Michael Cera do a great job in their movie 'Superbad'.Furthermore, how stupid are Jay and Neil's fighting scenes? Normal human beings do not fight by hugging each other for minutes.

Will, Simon, Jay and Neil are all here as the gang head out to Malia for a lads holiday after leaving school. It is to be the holiday of a life time, but in Inbetweeners style nothing goes to plan.And that's where the similarities with the hilarious TV show end. As sadly the film fails to capture the magic of the show. The movie plot positively throbs with potential. From horny teens, a holiday destination, and Jay having money from a dead grandparent. What could go wrong?? It simply never dips in to the potential.I'll start with Jay, some of the funniest lines in the TV show come from him. Here for some reason he is very watered down, and barely lies or exaggerates at all. his one lie "I've swam further UNDER water" was one of the two times I actually laughed. There was soooo much potential for the character of Jay in this situation, and it's never explored and we miss it!! Next up Simon is so ridiculously annoying and naive (who gives up ALL of their clothes) as he pines for Carli I wanted to punch him never mind Jay!As for punching someone the character of the Rep that Carli was smitten with was vile and in no way got the sort of comeuppance that he deserved. Will was a duller version of his TV version self and was subject to the old suntan lotion gag that was old, when it was used in "Police Academy V" the only one close to his TV version was Neil, and him leading the boys minus Jay on a dance to attract the attention of 4 girls was the second time I laughed.Now on to the 4 girls, all OK, but clichéd. But it is ridiculous that all 4 four girls, hooked up with the 4 boys for a holiday romance, and it is NOT in keeping with Inbetweeners spirit. The show is funny watching them try and fail. for all four to succeed just seemed like a "lets give them all an American Pie-esque happy ending" situation.All it all a massive let down, and this will not find it's way into my DVD collection unlike the TV show.