There is more cock in The Inbetweeners Movie than in Magic Mike. And it’s not like you have count; there’s a lot more cock. There’s teen cock; there’s stripper cock; there’s crudely drawn sunburn cock; there’s cartoon cat cock (the “PUSSAY PATROL” – yeah, boys, that’ll get you laid). I’d be a little offended except, hey, there’s certainly room in this world for raunchy teen comedy with masculine visuals instead of feminine and, to be frank, Inbetweeners is funny. Anything is tolerable so long as it’s funny.
Inbetweeners is good lesson that sex-starved moron is universal – awkward teens don’t have to be American to salivate over hotties and create elaborate fantasies with a 0% chance of becoming realities. Quite refreshing, that. These just-graduated UK losers are the-pathetic-piner-guy Simon (Joe Thomas), the I’m-no-prize-but-hey-no-fat-chicks-guy Jay (James Buckley), the I-would-quite-literally-make-out-with-a-statue-if-it-wore-a-dress-guy Neil (Blake Harrison) and the guy-who-waits-for-life-to-take-a-big-crap-on-him-guy Will (Simon Bird). The boys head to Malia on summer break for sex. Sure, why not? It’s always the last place you look for it. Among the four, not a single one has a good idea of how one speaks to a female and only one or two has even the most rudimentary idea of what to do in a rated-R situation.
I found the naïveté quite refreshing; it made me like the boys even though every single one of them earned the right to be thrown off a tall building at some time during the 97 minutes of movie. Truth is most boys don’t know how to speak to girls and speaking only amongst themselves doesn’t actually facilitate matters. Hard to believe. The highlight among several laugh-out-loud moments for me was watching our boys sashay across a barren dance floor in a weird form of peacocking to meet their future partners. After what amounts to an extended team dance number – I’d best describe it as a synchronized waddle — Will, the defacto leader, finally gives up and asks if they can sit and talk as they’re (temporarily) done making fools of themselves.
As is standard in films like this, the girls are too good for the boys. The alpha female, Alison (Laura Haddock), is way too hot to consider a Will. However, they all found themselves, and only themselves, at the same crummy bar night after night, so, hey, kismet. I had no trouble keeping all the boys and girls straight which is probably the very highest compliment I could pay a film with several exposed penises. And while the boys were often dicks and took turns exposing their members, this film doesn’t get the shaft.
Four boys show how they scored
With behavior most untoward
Their actions in Malia
Would leave most appall-ia
Immaturity is its own reward
Rated R, 97 Minutes
D: Ben Palmer
W: Iain Morris, Damon Beesley
Genre: Spring, er summer break, wooooo!
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Dorky teens
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Their parents
