The path of British comedians and sitcom stars trying to make a break in Hollywood is strewn with corpses. For every “In the Loop” or “Shaun of the Dead”, there’s a “Guest House Paradiso” or “Lesbian Vampire Killers” lurking not far around the corner. The newest chancer is the “The Inbetweeners”, a sitcom that ran for three seasons on UK’s Channel Four to some acclaim and is now making the leap to the big screen later in the summer. The teaser trailer hit on the show’s Facebook page yesterday and though some are already rapturous about it, what appeal the film will have outside of its native country is up for debate.
It’s a show beloved by millions in the U.K., and the credentials of its creators are hard to beat. Iain Morris and his co-creator Damon Beesley penned a brace of “Flight of the Conchords” episodes between them, while Morris is remembered for script editing the masterful sitcom “Peep Show” for four seasons, a show of which “The Inbetweeners” is often derivative. The project also got a healthy bump earlier in the year when it was announced that Mike Skinner of The Streets was handling the score. For those unacquainted with the show, it follows the juvenile exploits of four hapless adolescents in their last two years of high school, usually involving them trying to get laid in some capacity.
To many battle-hardened cynics, though, blowing this idea up to feature length doesn’t look set to buck the feeble Brit sitcom-to-movie trend. Much in the way the dumb-as-you-like “Kevin and Perry Go Large” took Harry Enfield’s overgrown snotfaced teenager and transplanted him to Ibiza, or the cast of “Are You Being Served?: The Movie” hilariously went holidaying in the fictional “Costa Plonka” (groan); this one takes the boys to Malia in Crete, which is apparently a well-known tourist hellscape fitting for the boys’ sexual misadventures.
This teaser trailer is unlikely to win over any skeptical fans. It features the four leads wandering about Malia’s infamous “club strip”, ogling various women in states of undress, and then making reference to how much skirt they’ll be getting during their stay. The sitcom’s USP has always been courting the “lad’s mag” contingent in the U.K. whilst having hapless lead nerd, Will (Simon Bird), rationalize the group’s goonish behaviour in a treacly Zach Braff-style voiceover.
The film is released theatrically in the U.K. on August 19th, but there’s no word on a US release as of yet. Just don’t be surprised if and when people start unofficially calling it “Carry On Up the Clunge”.
