When E4 had eventually grown tired of showing endless repeats of Friends and Scrubs, the channel eventually spat out its own unique programming, aimed at the sort of person that hecklerspray writers aren't; the young, the cool, the hip and the trendy. Arseholes, basically.
On one end of the spectrum, there was Skins, a programme which captured everyone’s dream college lifestyle, in a show which frequently used drugs, booze and sex, but portrayed them in the most extreme way to great effect.
Skins was escapism for most whilst The Inbetweeners offered a firmer dose of reality, especially for hormonal teenage boys. These are the sort of people who couldn't quite make that move from fingering a girl to using an empty packet of Space Raiders as a makeshift condom when that first awkward sexual experience arrived.
The show has, like many of its Channel 4?predecessors, made the leap from small screen to the cinema, or a dodgy DVD off someone in the pub. The Inbetweeners Movie has broken UK box office records, even though it feels like a watered down version of the TV series.
We don't have a total feeling of hate towards The Inbetweeners. If anything we truly admire something that was able to last an impressive three series, despite having the same jokes more or less each week. Whether they?d be about Will?s mum, mocking Jay?s supposed conquests, alternative words for the female lady garden or generally being rejected by women when a vague opportunity arose.
After series three finished, it almost seemed like the natural place to finish. For once, a TV show wasn?t going to finish with flashbacks, somebody waking up in the shower or a gathering of ninjas bursting into kill everyone. Instead, the main characters went on a camping trip following on from taking their A-Levels. As per real life, this is the time that most people take their first independent holiday abroad and this is where The Inbetweeners film takes us.
In a nutshell, the film goes along these lines of all four characters going to Magaluf one of them keeps on seeing an old flame, four new women enter the scene, they all fall in love and make a mess of it, all before patching things up at the end. Suffice to say, it's a run of the mill plot which could be applied to any situation in life, such as moving to a new city or starting a job, all be it with minor script changes.
Sitcoms like The Inbetweeners always do well as people incessantly latch onto and copy the catchphrases. These are the same people who delight in posting the term “lol” on your Facebook status. Choice highlights from the TV show include ?bus wanker?, ?clunge? and mocking anyone who says the word ?friend? in a tone similar to someone who's just experienced a stroke.
In this movie however, there doesn't seem to be any memorable moments that stick in the memory once you've left the cinema. Of course there are moments of humour but based around a lad?s holiday abroad, most people have been there and done it, making the viewing experience nothing out of the ordinary. Erratic drunken behaviour and unexpected surprises? Not particularly groundbreaking or imaginative.
But the people of Britain have flocked to the flicks, catapulting it in to the record books for a UK comedy. Whilst the movie industry will be celebrating high visitor numbers, we're sure that pissed off cinema staff won't be happy when they have to clean up spilt drinks and thrown snacks after pack screenings finish. Unless you're a cinema buff, you probably won't know this little snippet:
?Between Wednesday and Sunday The Inbetweeners Movie took ?13.2m, putting it comfortably on top of the UK and Ireland box office chart. Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason held the previous record for highest opening by a UK comedy. According to the producers of The Inbetweeners Movie, that film took ?10.4m in its first weekend in 2004.?
If movies based on real life experiences are going down a treat at the box office, then we’ll be working on a script over the next few months in which three people have an awkward conversation in a launderette. Eventually, one of them will realise that they’ve mixed their colours with their whites… with hilarious consequences.
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Liam says
There’s a problem with the line:
“The show has made has, ”
The movie did feel like a watered down version of the TV show, and I wish it’d been an 18 so they could have put a bit more in it.
However, It did have a few memorable moments – arrow shaved pubes, ants nest, poo on the guys nose – Loads of bits I can recall which were pretty funny.
I do want to see the movie again…
And who with a laptop gets dvd’s from the guy down the pub? self piracy is much easier nower days!
Jay says
Hmmmmn, Get a sense of humour! Or maybe a new writer? I know people up to 55 who have been to the cinema on word of mouth and have come away with tears still streaming! Think you’re still stuck in the 90’s, maybe you should go watch friends….
Andrew says
LOL …. you and the daily mail are the only bad reviews I have read about this film….says it all really…
Im a 35yo professional engineer who grew up in a working class area and attended state school, this has such resonance with my youth that its uncanny. This is a perfect portrail of the male teenage years … everything about it is spot on.
I can only assume you spent your teenage years friendless, locked in yr room reading classics …. get a life.