The Inbetweeners Movie

The Inbetweeners Movie
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ben Palmer
Written by	Damon Beesley Iain Morris
Produced by	Christopher Young
Starring	Simon Bird James Buckley Blake Harrison Joe Thomas
Narrated by	Simon Bird
Cinematography	Ben Wheeler
Edited by	William Webb Charlie Fawcett
Music by	Mike Skinner
Production companies	Film4 Productions Bwark Productions Young Films
Distributed by	Entertainment Film Distributors (UK) Roadshow Entertainment (Australia & New Zealand)
Release date	17 August 2011 (2011-08-17)
Running time	97 minutes 101 minutes (Extended cut)
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	£3.5 million ($5.7 million)
Box office	£57,699,138 ($88,025,781)

The Inbetweeners Movie is a 2011 British coming-of-age comedy-drama film based on the E4 sitcom The Inbetweeners, written by series creators Damon Beesley and Iain Morris and directed by Ben Palmer.

The film follows the misadventures of a group of teenage friends on holiday in Crete after the end of their final year at school together, and was intended as an ending to the TV series. It stars Simon Bird, Joe Thomas, James Buckley and Blake Harrison.

The film was released on 17 August 2011 in the UK and Ireland, to favourable reviews, although its later release in the United States was not received as well. It was a commercial success, setting the record for the biggest opening weekend for a comedy film in the UK. A sequel will be released on 6 August 2014.

Plot

Teenage friends Will McKenzie, Simon Cooper, Jay Cartwright, and Neil Sutherland have finished their A-levels and are about to leave Rudge Park Comprehensive, much to the relief of Mr. Gilbert, their sardonic sixth form tutor. Within their final week of school, Jay's grandfather dies, Simon is dumped by his girlfriend Carli D'Amato, and Will's divorced father tells him he has married his much younger mistress. The boys decide to go on holiday together and Neil books them on a trip to Malia, Crete.

Upon arriving in Malia, they discover to their dismay that their accommodation is a filthy, run-down old flat with only one bedroom and a sofa bed, which confuses Neil as it apparently looked different on the booking process. On the way to the bars, the boys encounter a strange, annoying youngster named Richard (Theo Barklem-Biggs) who came alone to Malia for a holiday. While walking past the bars, the boys are tricked into entering a bar which is near empty. After a while, they meet four girls who also frequent the pub; Alison, Lucy, Lisa and Jane. Their initial meeting does not go smoothly; Will chats to Alison and initially gets on with her, finding that she is as witty and intelligent as him, but ends up accidentally poking fun at her clichéd "Greek waiter boyfriend"; Simon struggles to talk to Lucy, who takes an interest in him, but bores her by talking non-stop about Carli; Neil has a non-conversation with Lisa, before ditching her for two older women, and Jay gets stuck with the bubbly and overweight Jane. Less than pleased, the girls go on their way, but arrange to meet the boys at their hotel the next day. Outside the bar, Simon sees Carli across the street; this is because Neil asked Carli where she was going on holiday and absentmindedly booked the same place. Simon angrily tells Neil that the point of the holiday was to take his mind off Carli, but decides to go and speak to her. He talks awkwardly with her before being knocked down by a quad-bike ridden by James, (the main antagonist in the movie) a cocky and abusive alpha male club rep and Carli's new boyfriend. Carli reveals she is going to an all-day boat party later in the week, and Simon pledges to meet her there.

The next morning, Will and Simon awaken to the sound of Neil having sex with a late middle-aged woman and find Jay sleeping face-down in an ants' nest outside. After sobering up, they go to meet the girls by their hotel pool. While they are there, the boys take some reserved sun loungers by throwing the towels placed over them into the pool, and an irritating, obnoxious little boy publicly humiliates Jay by pushing him into the pool and, when Jay finally catches him, pulling his shorts down, and Jay retaliates by picking him up and throwing him into the pool, only to discover that he genuinely cannot swim, forcing some hotel patrons to jump in and save him. As this is happening, the man who had reserved the sun loungers turns up and angrily demands the chairs, and their towels, and gets into an argument with Will. When the staff try to move them, Will shamelessly points out that the man's daughter, who is in a wheelchair, does not even need another chair, to the disgust of the other patrons. Having publicly humiliated themselves and caused a scene, the boys are quickly ejected from the hotel. Outside, Jay and Simon get into an argument; Jay complains of Simon's continuing obsession with Carli and his constant moaning, while Simon berates Jay's continual lying and false bravado, and they have a 'fight' (of a fashion) in the street. Will and Neil separate the pair and drag off Simon and Jay, respectively, in different directions. Desperate to buy a ticket for the boat party, Simon naively sells all his clothes to James, including what he is wearing, but never gets paid for them and is left naked. Meanwhile, Jay angrily tears up two of the four boat party tickets he secretly bought for all of them while drunk the night before as a surprise, hence having shown a kinder side. He and Neil then go to a nightclub later that night hoping to meet more girls, only to witness a male stripper performing autofellatio on stage. The duo subsequently run into James and his 'friends', and try to befriend him. James rudely threatens to injure Jay if they don't leave. Later that evening, the four boys meet back at the empty bar and bury the hatchet. Before long, the girls turn up and suggest that they all go skinny dipping at the local beach. Jane attempts to kiss Jay, but when two men poke fun at him over her weight and Jay pulls away, she leaves him behind. Will has better luck with Alison until she spots her boyfriend, Nicos, having sex with another woman, and she leaves crying. In the water, Lucy and Simon appear to be growing closer, and are about to kiss, when he sees Carli on the beach and leaves Lucy alone in the sea. Fed up with how the holiday is going, Will casually contemplates suicide in their flat's swimming pool, but Neil cheers him up and the boys, deciding to make the most of their holiday, go out partying.

The next day, they meet the girls again at the beach, although Lucy turns and walks down the beach when she sees Simon, and he follows her when Alison suggests he goes and talks to her. Seeing Will in a difficult state, Alison cheers him up, and decides to give him Nicos' ticket. On the beach, Simon apologises to Lucy, and she offers him her boat party ticket so that he can be with Carli, and Simon, once again missing this display of kindness, takes the ticket, thanks her and leaves. On board, Simon witnesses an argument with Carli and James. Later on, Carli kisses him passionately, and he is elated, until he realises that she is just using him to make James jealous. Finally seeing Carli for what she really is, he ditches her. Jay apologises to Jane, and she takes him into the toilets to perform oral sex. After finishing, they encounter James, who mocks Jane's weight and demands a banknote from Jay, so that he can snort drugs. Getting his own back, Jay gives him a €20 note that had been concealed in his anus to be used as a bribe for 'corrupt foreign police' when necessary, resulting in James unknowingly walking around with feces on the end of his nose, causing all the girls he flirts with to walk away in disgust, much to his confusion. Neil bumps into Richard during the boat party and is introduced to Richard's parents (both senior citizens), who came over at Richard's request to pick him up. When Neil is about to kiss the mother as a polite gesture, Lisa rushes over and tells her to back off, as she thinks Neil is trying to make moves on her like he did with the other older women at the bar. After Neil tells Lisa that his girlfriend back home dumped him, and he did not want to tell the others to save on being embarrassed, they feel no longer limited in the kind of sex they have.

Meanwhile, Alison and Will form a relationship, and Simon finally sees that Lucy, who gave him her ticket so that he could attend the party, is more worthy of his attention than the shallow Carli. Knowing that he has been less than kind to her, and encouraged by everyone on the boat, he decides to swim to shore to tell her how he feels as a grand romantic gesture. The strong tidal drift causes him to struggle and he almost drowns, and has to be airlifted to shore. As paramedics load him into an ambulance, a concerned Lucy rushes forward and kisses him, and they reconcile whilst Simon tells her 'It's normally bigger, it's just cold'.

After the boat party is over, the other boys and girls visit Simon in hospital, and once he recovers they all spend the rest of their holiday together as couples. The four head home to the UK. As they meet their families at the airport, their girlfriends exit the same terminal and introduce themselves to the boys' parents as the film ends. Neil and Lisa quickly rush from the airport when Nicole is also waiting for him at the airport (Neil had lied about Nicole dumping him during the boat party). In a final scene before the credits, a drunken Mr. Gilbert is seen riding a quad bike through the streets of Malia in his underwear with a tie round his head in a John Rambo style.

Cast

List of cast members:

• Simon Bird as Will McKenzie
• James Buckley as Jay Cartwright
• Blake Harrison as Neil Sutherland
• Joe Thomas as Simon Cooper
• Emily Head as Carli D'Amato
• Laura Haddock as Alison
• Tamla Kari as Lucy
• Jessica Knappett as Lisa
• Lydia Rose Bewley as Jane
• Theo James as James
• Theo Barklem-Biggs as Richard
• Anthony Head as Mr. McKenzie
• Belinda Stewart-Wilson as Polly McKenzie
• Martin Trenaman as Alan Cooper
• Robin Weaver as Pamela Cooper
• David Schaal as Terry Cartwright
• Victoria Willing as Mrs Cartwright
• Alex MacQueen as Kevin Sutherland
• Greg Davies as Mr. Gilbert
• Henry Lloyd-Hughes as Mark Donovan
• Lauren O'Rourke as Nicole
• Storme Toolis as man's daughter who is in a wheelchair

Soundtrack

The official soundtrack consists of:

• Miles Kane – "Quicksand"
• Mike Skinner – "No Problemo"
• "Mental Holiday" (from The Inbetweeners)
• The Vines – "Gimme Love'"
• Ke$ha – "Blow (Cirkut Remix)"
• "Introduce Yourself" (from The Inbetweeners)
• Yolanda Be Cool – "We No Speak Americano (Radio Edit)"
• Axwell – "Nothing but Love (Radio Edit)"
• Mike Skinner – "Fernando's Theme"
• "You're a Virgin" (from The Inbetweeners)
• Mike Skinner – "Twenty Euros"
• Mike Skinner – "Waving Not Drowning"
• "He Shoots He Scores" (from The Inbetweeners)
• Mike Skinner – "Clunge in a Barrel"
• Deer Tick – "Twenty Miles"
• Calvin Harris – "Feel So Close (Benny Benassi Remix)"
• "Smack In The Balls" (from The Inbetweeners)
• Mike Skinner – "We Are Go"
• Everything Everything – "MY KZ, YR BF (Grum Remix)"
• Mike Skinner – "Moanatronic 5000"
• The D.O.T – "Whatever It Takes"
• "Two Man Job" (from The Inbetweeners)
• Mike Skinner – "Do It"
• Sean Kingston – "Party All Night (Sleep All Day)"
• Morning Runner – "Gone up in Flames"
• Mike Skinner – "Pussay Patrol"
• "To The Pussay" (from The Inbetweeners)

Songs not on the official soundtrack but featured in the film:

• Demetrios Kousathanas - "Pes to Mou to Nai"
• Pixie Lott – "All About Tonight"
• Plan B – "Stay Too Long"
• Funky G – "Kafana na Balkanu"
• Edward Maya & Mia Martina – "Stereo Love"
• Diana Vickers – "The Boy Who Murdered Love"

Production

Principal photography took place in the United Kingdom (London, West Sussex), Magaluf, and Malia, Crete. A YouTube video shows the lads walking down the Malia Strip, walking past popular clubs 'Corkers', the strip club 'GoGo Lap Dancing Club' and 'Candy Club'. The Interiors of the empty club where Neil shows off his dance moves were shot in Infernos night club on Clapham High Street, London.

Release

Box office

On its first day of release, The Inbetweeners Movie grossed over £2.5 million in 409 cinemas, outperforming Aliens]]. The film then went on to set a new record for the most successful opening weekend ever achieved by a comedy film in the UK, overtaking Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason and The Hangover Part II after earning £13,200,000. It retained its number 1 position in the UK film charts for 4 weeks and for 3 weeks in the Republic of Ireland, finally being overtaken by Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy on 16 September 2011. The film saw a limited theatrical release in the United States on 7 September 2012, where it grossed $36,000 making its total box office revenue $88,025,781.

Critical reception

The Inbetweeners Movie received mostly positive reviews upon its original United Kingdom release in August 2011. Following release in the United States in September 2012, critical reaction was less favourable, with the film at first holding a 75% score on Rotten Tomatoes and having since dropped to 54%, with the site's consensus "It arguably plays most strongly to fans of the BBC series [sic], but even viewers who have never seen The Inbetweeners on TV may find themselves won over by the film's surprisingly tender ribaldry." At the website Metacritic, which uses a normalized rating system, the film received a mixed rating of 44/100 based on 17 reviews.

Ian Freer of Empire gave the film four stars out of five, observing that "Like any holiday, it is episodic and suffers from repetition but this is gag-for-gag the funniest film of the summer and a fitting end to a much-loved series." Steve Rose of The Guardian gave the film three stars out of five, giving particular praise to Simon Bird's performance and arguing that the film "updates the teen summer holiday formula surprisingly entertainingly, considering it doesn't subvert it one iota and the formula was already done previously with Holiday on the Buses and Kevin & Perry Go Large among others." Tim Robey of The Daily Telegraph also gave a positive assessment of the film, praising it as "an enormous hit, a Mamma Mia! for the Hangover demographic." Screen Daily, on the other hand, gave a mixed review, praising the performances of the main cast and proclaiming the film "Britain’s delayed riposte to American Pie", yet simultaneously arguing that it "can't quite shake off its TV roots, and plot-wise, this is nothing the Greek tourist board would want to advertise."

Australian critic Margaret Pomeranz from At the Movies called the characters "gormless" and said, "I'm giving this one star really generously."

Home media

On 12 December 2011, The Inbetweeners Movie was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in the UK by 4DVD, with the latter version sold as a triple pack containing both formats along with a digital copy of the film. Both versions include a number of special features, such as a making-of documentary, footage from the film's London premiere, various deleted scenes, cast commentaries and a blooper reel.

Following its appearance in UK stores, the DVD quickly became a major financial success. Within less than a week, the film became the third fastest-selling British home media release of 2011 after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, with approximately 575,000 copies sold in the first day of its release. By 17 December, estimated sales reached one million, resulting in the film displacing the home media release of Paul as one of the five best-selling DVDs of the year in the UK.

Extended version

The Blu-ray release also features an extended cut of the film that restores approximately four minutes of material omitted from the theatrical release, most notably an additional scene in which Will and Simon encounter a drunken Mr. Gilbert on a Malia stag weekend. These additions resulted in the extended cut being rated an 18, as opposed to the 15 rating of the theatrical release.

Sequel

Main article: The Inbetweeners 2

A sequel to the film, titled The Inbetweeners 2, will be released in British and Irish cinemas on 6 August 2014. It will be set in Australia.

American adaptation

An American version, titled Virgins America, will be directed by Jim Field Smith. Whether Morris and Beesley have involvement is unknown.

See also

• List of films based on British sitcoms

External links

• The Inbetweeners Movie at IMDb
• The Inbetweeners Movie at Box Office Mojo
• The Inbetweeners Movie at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Inbetweeners Movie at Metacritic
• The Inbetweeners Movie at British Comedy Guide