Comedy Film Review: The Inbetweeners Movie (2011)

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Directed by Ben Palmer, the Inbetweeners movie is a feature length film based on a successful television show. It follows the story of four friends, Will, Simon, Jay and Neil, as they leave school and head off to Malia for the holidays. The main characters of this franchise are known for being unpopular and uncool, which is why the show and the films of the Inbetweeners is so loved by a wide audience.

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What makes this film so comedic are the characters, as they are all very different to each other in personality, but equally as dim and funny. Also the plot itself in the film makes it even more funny, as it is more realistic. It gives the grounds for a stereotypical movie, where the protagonist gets a positive outcome, then shows what would actually happen in real life. The main example of this is near the end of the film, when three of the boys go to a boat party and get with the girls they wanted, Simon is left to go tell his love interest his feelings. He then comes up with the romantic gesture of jumping from the boat and swimming to shore to go meet her. At this point the music lifts in a romantic way, and the characters all start cheering for Simon, making the audience guess the outcome of the situation. After he dives into the sea and starts swimming towards land, the shot fades slowly to black, then fades back into vision again. Here it reveals Simon struggling to swim, and almost drowning because of it. What makes this scene funny, is the illusion it gives that uplifted the audience into thinking everything will go Simon's way, then showing the harsh reality. If average person was to attempt this in real life, they would probably start drowning, just as Simon nearly did in the film.

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To sum it up, the Inbetweeners movie shows four believable characters put into believable situations, and show the comedy in it. By making it so believable is what makes an audience relate and be humoured by it.

Illustration List

Figure 1- https://nicksimmons.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/inbetweeners-movie-review/

Figure 2- http://www.film4.com/reviews/2011/the-inbetweeners-movie

Figure 3- http://lovethatmag.com/2014/08/05/inbetweeners-movie-best-bits.html/22