Saturday, September 1, 2012

Hit Brit teen comedy THE INBETWEENERS arrives, coinciding with recent U.S. TV show


Is there a subject more original and seldom-seen in films than that of teenagers trying to get their rocks off? Let me think: yes, actually. At last count, maybe 10,257 of them. Still, those teens-tryin'-to-get-laid movies keep a-comin'. The latest is the blockbuster (in Britain, at least), THE IN-BETWEENERS MOVIE -- titled, I would guess, to further separate it from The InBetweeners television show, which was also a huge Brit hit, even if the newly-minted Americanized version does not appear to have quite caught on here. So there's no need, as yet, to use the word "movie" in the title over here in America.

Should you take a chance on this relatively unknown commodity, put together by the creative team shown above: director Ben Palmer (at left) and writers Iain Morris (center) and Damon Beesley (right)? This depends on little else except your own tolerance for this kind of "entertainment." Mine is growing ever thinner, and this new attempt did not noticeably thicken it, despite the movie's beginning with a surprisingly light touch, as a father (Anthony Head--below, right) and his son (Simon Bird, below, left) discuss the latter's future in a scene that is funny and flip.

Soon that son and his three best friends (James Buckley, below, left; Blake Harrison, center, left; and Joe Thomas, center, right) are headed off to a Greek-isle getaway, during which they mean to get laid and get drunk, not necessarily in that order.

What follows? Surprise: everything from drinking (above)...

to dancing...

to dry humping...

to barfing (more than once, too!) ...

and it is all such fun, for maybe fifteen minutes, or for fifteen-year-olds or mature 10-year-olds. There's also the ex-girlfriend Mr. Thomas has left behind (Emily Head, above left),

who -- another surprise! -- tuns up on the island to unintentionally thwart his possible new romance with one of the four-girl group (above: talk about convenience!) that our fellows soon meet. We've even got a sexy, cute creep (Theo James, below, center), who, yes, gets his proper comeuppance.

Am I giving away spoilers?  I think not. The only real way to spoil a beyond-cliche-ridden movie like this one would be to take a the tip of a letter-opener to its digital disc. Why? Well, when every bit of humor, and I do mean every bit, rises from the naievete-unto-stupidity of our male quartet,  this soon begins to grow a tad expected and, dare I suggest, tiresome.

So, with the above warning (perhaps it sounds more like an inducement?), I leave you to make your own decision. But you probably should know, if you haven't already guessed, that TrustMovies didn't much care for America Pie (or its many offspring), either.

The Inbetweeners, distributed in the USA by Wrekin Hill Entertainment, hits theaters this coming Friday, September 7. In New York City, it will play exclusively at Regal's Union Square Stadium 14. You can see its complete schedule of ten-city playdates, with theaters included, by clicking here, and scrolling, as they say, down.

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