Film adaptations of TV shows long off the air have proven hit-or-miss at the box office. But in recent years, the practice of continuing the story of a popular, recently concluded TV series in a feature film has made for easier business — even when the results are mixed creatively. There’s a lot to get wrong in translating a successful series, and therefore a lot to consider: How much of an introduction will a wide audience need to a show’s world and characters? How will the storytelling contend with the pacing and rhythms of a different medium? Can the movie offer a plot significant enough that it sustains interest for more than the usual half-hour or hour?
The Inbetweeners, a male-focused and self-conscious teen sex comedy based on the award-winning British TV series, answers the questions of adaptation with aplomb, dispensing a disposable but inventive and intelligent series follow-up which satisfies as a standalone experience.
Written by series creators Iain Morris and Damon Beesley and directed by Ben Palmer, who directed two of the three seasons of the show, the movie picks up the story of four not-quite-popular friends just as they’re graduating from their public high school in the suburbs of London. Immediately, the 18 episodes exploring that world are one of the film’s biggest assets, even for an audience unfamiliar with the show; the movie dispenses with clunky exposition and lets the audience catch up to characters through their actions.
As an appropriate introduction to the film’s frequently bawdy and occasionally pessimistic tone, swaggering and sex-obsessed Jay (James Buckley) is caught half-naked by his mother and sister while doing something involving a hockey glove, a scuba mask, a credit card and lunch meat. They’re there to tell him his grandfather has died. Things aren’t going much better for earnest and oblivious Simon (Joe Thomas), who is summarily dumped by his girlfriend Carli (Emily Head) in preparation for the transition to university. Will (Simon Bird), the film’s witty narrator and the group’s most level-headed member, is also the most identifiably nerdy — it seems part of a crushing routine when he doles out sarcastic but hollow gibes as he’s graced on the last day of school with one final wedgie from the school bully. The only one who seems to be getting along fine is Neil (Blake Harrison), but you get the sense that, even without a girlfriend, his sunny if slightly dim disposition would keep him happy.
Ready to relieve their academic and sexual frustrations, the guys take off for the teen summer holiday destination of Malia, Crete, which boasts beaches, clubs, alcohol and girls. Although their dank hostel seems minutes away from getting condemned, the group won’t be deterred — especially Jay, who marshals Will, Neil and even heartsick Simon to make the best of the trip and have some sex.