THIS WEEKEND sees the US opening of “The Inbetweeners” a hilarious new British movie based on the hit UK television series created by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris.
Although this reviewer is hardly the target market for a movie centering on the holiday exploits of four clueless British lads in search of “sex, booze, tits, sex, fanny, minge . . . sex, tits, booze and . . . sex”, I found myself roaring with laughter and you will too. It’s not for nothing that the movie, inspired, according to the filmmakers, by the likes of John Hughes and Judd Apatow, has become the most successful non-animated comedy in UK box office history.
Despite the movie’s huge success at home, bringing The Inbetweeners across the Atlantic is a challenge, since comedy traditionally doesn’t travel well. Apart from the Mr. Bean and Monty Python, most British comedy leaves Americans confused rather than amused.
Wrekin Hill, the film’s U.S. distributor, is hoping that “The Inbetweeners” will resonate with “young, intelligent” American audiences in the same way that “Borat” did, says Chris Ball, co-founder and president. That film, based on a character Sacha Baron Cohen developed for his British television series “Da Ali G Show,” grossed nearly $130 million in the U.S. To be sure, Mr. Baron Cohen was better known in the U.S. at the time because HBO had aired a version of his TV show.”It’s the hardest genre to crack,” says Damon Beesley, co-screenwriter and executive producer. The film, made for about $5 million, will be released in only 10 U.S. theaters in eight markets, expanding to more locations if it shows any traction.
We meet suburban lads Will McKenzie (Simon Bird), Jay Cartwright (James Buckley), Simon Cooper (Joe Thomas) and Neil Sutherland (Blake Harrison) as they graduate from secondary school. They are determined to have one last hurrah, courtesy of a resort on the isle of Crete which is notorious for its sex, booze and drug culture. But our lads being the hapless bunch they are, and despite being surrounded by legions of drunken available slappers, for most of the movie all they manage to do is blunder from one mortifying episode to the next, blow all their cash, get blind drunk and end up sleeping alone – sometimes in a spew-soaked gutter. Convinced that the solution to all of their problems lies in a weekend party-boat excursion, but without the funds or connections to get tickets to the once-in-a-lifetime blowout, they seemed doomed to once again be left outside the action again until fate intervenes and they all get their just desserts, sexual and otherwise.
The movie does tend to get episodic, but the constant barrage of humor and clever one-liners almost make up for that, and as in any ensemble piece, some portayals are more successful than others. Simon Bird as Will and Joe Thomas as Simon are both very engaging, but the broad strokes of James Buckley’s Jay and Blake Harrison’s Neil get tedious. On the female side, of the quartet who make up the lads’ female ‘shag’ interests, Lydia Rose Bewley and Tamla Kari are both creditable and sympathetic, while Laura Haddock and Jessica Knappett do their best with characters both threadbare and clichéd. Such quibbles aside, the movie is well worth 90 minutes of your time and manages, on the whole, to combine classic elements of American and British comedies. All in all, well worth your $12.50 admission price.
– Nick Stark
The Inbetweeners Movie. Director: Ben Palmer • Screenplay: Iain Morris and Damon Beesley
Starring: Simon Bird, Blake Harrison, James Buckley, Joe Thomas • Rated: R • Run time: 97 mins
Now playing at the Landmark Regent in Westwood and the Laemmle Fourplex in Santa Monica.
