I haven't seen the Inbetweeners TV show but had read enough about it and the movie to have a fair idea of what to expect.

I got what I expected, that is a crude, foul mouthed, simple movie with some hilarious lines and scenes. The movie has the four characters from the TV show heading to Crete for a sun holiday after they finish secondary school.

It is an unashamedly laddish movie with themes, characters and situations that will be familiar to any male who has been on a "lads" sun holiday, had their heart broken or pined for a girl you know you haven't a chance of hooking up with.

There is plenty of gratuitous nudity (almost all of it male), vomit, excrement, clichéd characters and plot twists and lot of hugging and learning at the end. This may seem ironic given what goes on in the rest of the movie but despite all their faults you do like the four lads.

The main thing is that it delivers on its promise of a lot of belly laughs.

Meet The Inbetweeners. For the benefit of those not familiar with the TV series (3 series, 18 episodes), we are looking at 4 lads at the end of their high school career, seen mainly through the eyes of Will. (Simon Bird) Following his parents' marriage breakup, Will is taken out of fee-paying school and dropped into the state system. He is bright, articulate, fairly confident in himself, but socially inept and aware of it. He more or less latches on to Simon (Joe Thomas) who is relatively straightforward, and nearest to the "everyman" of the group. Simon's only hangup is that he is hopelessly devoted to Carli (Emily Head) who, while going along with a perfunctory quasi-romance in order to avoid puncturing Simon's bubble, has no real interest in him. Then there is Jay (James Buckley), consumed with an all-pervading obsession with sex, most of which is derived from the internet. Jay talks a good game which convinces his friends, but no-one else. Finally, there is Neil (Blake Harrison), an empty headed but good natured beanpole.

The film starts where the last episode left off, and meets our four friends on their last day at school (Head of 6th Form Mr Gilbert (Greg Davies), here limited to essentially a cameo delivering a scabrously funny farewell speech, saying what I imagine many Heads of 6th Form would actually like to say, rather than what they do say). Carli dumps Will and the friends go on holiday to the Mediterranean in order to immerse themselves in booze and sex, two areas where they have shown little aptitude in the past.

A common criticism of feature movies developed from sitcoms is that they often amount to little more than an extended episode of the TV series, and there is some validity to that accusation here – there is little in the way of plot, merely an episodic series of events during the holiday.

Yet there is much more to it than that. The friendship of the group, and within the group, is showcased (particularly as regards the way in which it changes during the film) and each member of the friends develops, learns and goes forward. And that is one of the main joys of the film – it provides a sensitive and realistic way for The Inbetweeners to be brought to a close – life goes on, our four protagonists go on but, more importantly, they go forward. They are more equipped to take on life than they were before, and all through the teen lad excesses of drinking too much and chasing girls.

As with the TV series, there is a vast amount of foul language, a vast amount of sexually explicit dialogue, and a fair amount of scatology. But the performances are all excellent (there are some brilliantly written and performed moments which consist of nothing more than the hint of a whimper), the relationships between the lads is real and touching and, above everything else, it is very, very funny. Disgusting, but funny.