It may not be as well known on this side of the pond, but The Inbetweeners is a bit of television gold, no…platinum. Featuring the adventures of a group of lads who bring a whole new meaning to the term gormless, the show ran from 2008 to 2010 and made stars of Simon Bird, James Buckley, Blake Harrison and Joe Thomas. Produced by the E4 network, a part of channel four, the show was an instant hit and spawned first one, then two films.
Fans of the show are again treated to the misadventures of Will, Neil, Jay and Simon aka Si. The last film had the boys heading to Malia in Cyprus, Simon was chasing the love of his life Carley and the rest of the lads acted normally, or gorm-ally.
This time round, the girl that Simon found to replace Carley in the first film has now turned into the girlfriend from hell. She cuts his hoodies off and is smothering him. Jay, according to a grinder message he sends Neil, is living it large in Australia. He claims to get “a blowie from a different bird every morning” in his spacious mansion. He is known as DJ Big Penis and runs his own club. He invites Neil to visit.
Will, Simon and Neil decide to head down under. Simon wants to get away from Luci and Will can’t stand the thought of being at university with a group of people who constantly make fun of him. Once there Will bumps into an old junior school friend, female, who is delighted to see him. She talks him into hanging with her group of friends and Will turns his back on Jay, Simon and Neil.
The first thing the lads learn is that Jay, is still Jay after all. His mansion is a two-man tent, he works in the toilet at the nightclub and there are no birds in the morning. He is staying in his uncle’s front garden and the man is an Aussie version of Jay’s dad back in England, in a word; insufferable.
We follow the lads as they bumble their way through many social settings. It could be said that the sequel to The Inbetweeners Movie, is pretty much a copy of the first one, four English inept lads in a foreign country. The gags in the film however, are a bit closer to the bone than the first one.
There is a riff, or homage, on the Babe Ruth scene in Caddyshack, except this is no candy bar and the payoff is much more disgusting. It is, however, very very funny. One laughs in horrified glee while simultaneously gagging at the sight. There are a number of ‘R’ rated moments, a set of bollocks hanging down at a pub, along with a dog licking them, and a urine scene towards the end that is grossly funny.
The Inbetweeners 2 is amusing and entertaining. However, the humor is tinged with sadness. We feel that this will be the last time Will, Jay, Neil and Simon will crease us up with their antics. The film felt a little hollow somehow. Perhaps it was seeing James Buckley in the 2014 horror movie The Pyramid. He played a bit more of a grownup in that feature, he was a cameraman and never once said “clunge”
He never said it in The Inbetweeners 2 film either. It was as though Jay, the part James plays in the show and the films, was an imitation and not the real thing. Sort of how the film itself felt. The whole thing felt more like a imitation of the original, addictive humor of the TV show. Despite the the bollocks jokes and the fecal funnies.
Still, fans of the show will find this entertaining, if not a bit disappointing since Carley is not in it, “beep, beeb, beep, beep.” Despite this shortcoming, made up a bit with the appearance of Will’s mum with Mr. Gilbert, a sight that leads her son to declare that they have all died and gone to hell, Edith Head was missed.
A good solid 4 out of 5 for this last visit with the boys and anyone who disagrees is a “Bumda!
2 June 2015
Michael Knox-Smith
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