THE INBETWEENERS 2

THE INBETWEENERS was that rare thing - a hugely commercially and critically successful TV adaptation.  And with its commercial success comes the inevitable sequel.  But against all odds, THE INBETWEENERS 2 is as funny, if not funnier, than the original! And as usual, there's a lot of wry social commentary amid the poo jokes.

As the movie opens, our four protagonists have left high school and have finished their first year at college, or working. The motor-mouth ultimate Lad, Jay (James Buckley) has gone to Australia to chase after his ex, although of course, in one of the funniest movie openings ever, he plays it like he doesn't care about her at all and is having an amazing time shagging lots of girls. Nice guy Will (Simon Bird) decides to go visit him to escape his massively annoying but scary girlfriend who he ends up accidentally getting engaged to her over Skype. Will is joined by the nice but dim Neil (Blake Harrison) and neurotic Will (Simon Bird) who ditches his mates for the posh Gap year students he meets Down Under.

The plot sees the boys travel around Oz, dealing with the usual bullies, popular kids and manipulative girls. The writers, Damon Beesley and Iain Morris, poke a lot of fun at the absurdity of identikit posh kids travelling around Asia-Pac to supposedly find themselves on exactly the same route as everyone else. We also get some nice gags at the expense of Aussie cliches, like the ultra macho men. But what I really love is that this seemingly random holiday does have a purpose, and as usual it's to allow the boys to grow and learn. And although there is always an emotional pay-off it's never incredible. So, to avoid spoiling the ending, let's just say the writers don't let a need for Hollywood style schmaltz ruin a darkly, bitingly funny movie.

I don't know what else to say but that you should see this movie. It's hilarious. Both physically funny, scatalogically funny, and with biting social satire. I hope they make a third.

THE INBETWEENERS 2 has a running time of 96 minutes and is rated 15 for very strong nudity, sex references, and very strong language. The movie is on release in the UK and Ireland. It goes on release in Malta on August 20th, in Australia on August 21st, in New Zealand on August 28th, in Germany and Austria on October 30th, in Estonia on November 14th and in Russia on December 4th.

THE INBETWEENERS MOVIE - Pure Comedy Gold.

This girl's so wet for me I can hear the waves breaking in her fanny 

Five years ago, the British teen TV channel, E4, broadcast two new shows.  "Skins" was designed to shock the bourgeoisie with its tales of teen promiscuity and drug-taking.  The cast was full of pretty young things playing privileged teens in affluent Bristol.  By contrast, "The Inbetweeners" was about the  normal boring suburban kids who live in housing estates in middle England. Kids with parents who smother them rather than ignore them - kids who struggle to get laid, argue over petrol money, and get wasted on two pints of lager.  Kids who have shit cars, and girlfriends who dump them, and spend their time farting and having a wank. 

"The Inbetweeners" was as much about modern life as "Skins" - with all the usual references to video games, text messaging, and interpreting the use of the "smiley face".  But, for all that, "The Inbetweeners" was basically just an old-fashioned coming-of-age comedy, with four likeable protagonists worrying about the stuff we all worried about at that age, no matter which decade we grew up in.  The basic premise therefore had broad appeal, hitting a wider demographic than "Skins".  It showed us who we really were rather than who we wished we could've been. And the cherry on the cake was the razor-sharp, bitingly funny dialogue from writers Damon Beesley and Iain Morris (the guys behind "Peep Show"). Not to mention the young cast's fearless attitude toward humiliating themselves in public.  To give you some examples....Posh geek Will Mackenzie (Simon Bird) is seen shitting himself in his AS exam; lanky dullard Neil Sutherland (Blake Harrison) is seen cutting his nob while pissing into a beer can in the back of a car; earnest but dim Simon Cooper (Joe Thomas) is seen modelling a speedo with a testacle sticking out of it; and Jay Cartwright (James Buckley) talks almost exclusively about "clunge" while completely failing to get any. 

The genius of the team behind "The Inbetweeners" was to kill off the TV show when it was still brilliant and not to invent some piss-poor reason to spin it out.  The kids had done their three terms in the sixth form over three short series, and that was the end of it. And this new movie looks less like the typical shameless Hollywood cash-in (you'll have to wait for the MTV produced version for that) than a credible and plausible way to continue the kids' story into the summer holiday after the school year has ended.  By letting the four teens go to Greece on a cheap package holiday the writers get new targets for their humour -  budget flights, dodgy accommodation, sleazy holiday reps, club-night entrance scams, and holiday romance - as well as letting the cast do what comes naturally - that is, drinking, vomiting, shitting, stripping off at inopportune moments, and somehow, by some miracle, actually finding girls that'll give them the time of day.  

I laughed out loud all the way through the flick, loved the in-references to events in the TV series (Will inadvertently pissing off the disabled - but especially the cameo of Mr Gilbert, my favourite character from the TV series, over the end credits). And while I can't really judge, I'm guessing that the characters are clearly enough established within the world of the movie that even a person who hadn't watched the TV series would find it as funny.  If I'm honest, Ben Wheeler's DV photography doesn't really need to be seen on a big screen, but this is in no way a glorified TV movie.  There are few greater feelings in life than to be in a crowded cinema with a bunch of people sharing in the same humour. Proper R-rated humour that isn't about trying oh-so-hard to be subversive and fails (HORRIBLE BOSSES, I'm looking at you) but that stems from the reality of the moment and the authenticity of how kids speak.  Seeing the lads dance over to some unsuspecting "clunge" on their first night in Greece is worth the price of the ticket alone! 

THE INBETWEENERS MOVIE is on release in the UK and Ireland. It opens in Australia on October 20th and in Spain in January 2012. The Inbetweeners TV show is available on DVD and on iTunes.   MTV is currently producing a US version.