Rom-com of the year? Yes! Ben Palmer and Tess Morris' delightful surprise, MAN UP

What a treat. We should, of course, expect a lot from Lake Bell, after so many good performances and her terrific directing debut, In a World... But Simon Pegg as the perfect leading man: charming, funny (of course), self-deprecating and real? Now, that's a major surprise. Sure, Pegg is always funny but he's also always bizarre. Who knew he had this kind of performance in him?

Well, obviously MAN UP's director, Ben Palmer (shown at left) and writer, Tess Morris (below, right) knew. This pair, together with their two actors (and Ophelia Lovibond in a choice supporting role) take the rom-com into bright, delicious new byways we have not traveled in a good long time.

From the initial scene, as our heroine Nancy (Ms Bell), frightened of having to interact with the crowd at a party, turns to the bottle and a very funny room service waiter, to an scene on a train with Ms

Lovibond and a famous would-be self-help book, to the sudden meeting with Mr. Pegg, the movie is super-amusing, clearly character-based, and about as cleverly written, directed and acted as you could possibly wish.

Yes, Man Up is a rom-com, but how long has it been since we've seen one of this high an order, where everything clicks into place and yet still gifts us with a whole shebang of small surprises that keep unfurling beautifully, even as they propel the plot along, while building the characters of our two possible lovers? A year? Try a decade.

Bell and Pegg (above and below) meet more than cute -- it's a great set-up and it's quite believable, too.  This pair does indeed seem "meant for each other." When trouble ensues -- brought about by an old schoolmate, played with utter relish and great comedic skill by the wonderful Rory Kinnear -- that's every bit as bizarrely believable.

Probably the most surprising thing, however, is how the movie treats its "other woman," written and played so well by Ms Lovibond (shown two photos below, at left). This is simply wonderful, and it makes Man Up seem absolutely all that it could be. Compare this with the recent rom-com Tumbledown, and the thankless manner in which it treats its "other woman" and "other man," and you'll quickly understand how special the film is and why its "feel-good" makes you feel that way, guilt-free.

The ensemble supporting cast is quite wonderful, too, with choice names like Harriet Walter, Olivia Williams (above, left), Stephen Campbell Moore (above, right), Ken Stott and Sharon Horgan (of Amazon's fab Catastrophe series) doing lovely turns.

The final scenes, which are as fine as in any rom-com I've seen for ages, build beautifully to the conclusion, in which the word "babysitter" proves pivotal and just about perfect -- and, again, absolutely believable. The array of talent and how it is used here is rather amazing. To miss this delight would be a loss for anyone who appreciates the rom-com genre -- and maybe equally so for just-plain-movie-lovers, too.

This British film had a shockingly small theatrical life on this side of the pond, but its DVD, Blu-ray and eventual streaming venues should help it find the huge audience it so richly deserves. You can view it now via the usual various venues -- for purchase or rental.

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.