Kevin & Perry Go Large is a 2000 British teen coming-of-age sex comedy film based on the Harry Enfield sketch Kevin the Teenager. The film was written by Dave Cummings and Harry Enfield and directed by Ed Bye. Enfield, Kathy Burke and Louisa Rix all return to their roles after previously appearing on Harry Enfield & Chums. James Fleet replaced Stephen Moore as Kevin's father. The film received mixed reviews but has since gained a cult following.
| Kevin & Perry Go Large | |
|---|---|
 British release poster | |
| Directed by | Ed Bye |
| Written by | David Cummings Harry Enfield |
| Produced by | Peter Bennet-Jones Harry Enfield Jolyon Symonds Barnaby Thompson |
| Starring | Harry Enfield Kathy Burke Rhys Ifans |
| Cinematography | Alan Almond |
| Edited by | Mark Wybourn |
| Music by | Cecily Fay Philip Pope |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Icon Film Distribution |
Release date |
|
Running time | 82 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £2 million (estimated) |
| Box office | £10,099,770 |
Plot
editTeenager Kevin has tried to lose his virginity for three years. While reading an adult magazine they bought, he and his best friend Perry decide they want to go to Ibiza to become DJs and seduce women. However, when Kevin's parents, Ray and Sheila, see his bad school report, they forbid the trip. They later compromise: the boys can go if they get jobs to pay for it. Searching fruitlessly for jobs, the boys end up at a house party, where a popular girl Sharon passes out drunk next to Kevin. Perry, seeing the two in bed together the following morning, assumes Kevin has lost his virginity. Kevin lies, saying he had sex with Sharon but gets overheard while leaving the party. Later, in the town centre, an angry Sharon confronts and humiliates Kevin about this, mockingly calling him "virgin" as a crowd watches and laughs.
Distraught, Kevin arrives home in time to sign for the delivery of Ray's new credit card. He seizes the card and takes it to the bank to steal the money for their plane fare from Ray's bank account. At the bank, he accidentally foils a robbery, and the manager rewards him and Perry with money with which the boys plan to fund the trip. As a reward, Kevin's parents approve of the trip, as long as they can accompany the boys, much to Kevin's horror.
On arriving in Ibiza, the boys spot the 'girls of their dreams' Candice and Gemma. They also meet famous club DJ and record producer Eyeball Paul who the boys idolise. Eyeball Paul is rude and mocks the boys but they are oblivious to it, thinking he's being nice. The boys spend the day at the beach and chat with the girls but are unsuccessful in seducing them.
That night, the boys walk filming the events around them. Kevin films a couple snogging, and they turn out to be Ray and Sheila. Kevin sulks while he and Perry hang out with Ray and Sheila. Later, after helping Eyeball Paul, the boys end up at the club "Amnesia" where they dance the night away—without Candice and Gemma, who were refused entry by the doorman, who holds a hand-mirror to call them ugly.
The next day, the boys go to Paul's, and he makes them clean his house in return for his listening to their tapes. While leaving, they spot Candice and Gemma, but again their attempts to woo them end in failure, although the girls start to bond with the boys when realising they know Eyeball Paul and they may be able to get them into the clubs.
The boys wait outside the girls' hotel for four hours while the girls have a makeover, and they are admitted to Amnesia with Kevin and Perry, but yet again the boys "strike out" when they get vomited on by other revellers and leave embarrassed while the girls meet two other men in the club.
That night, Perry videotapes Ray and Sheila having sex. The next day, Paul listens to the boys' music as they clean his kitchen. He stumbles across the parents' sex tape and shows it to everyone. Kevin lashes out at Perry after realizing that it was Perry who filmed them. Baz, Paul's manager and chauffeur driver, later persuades Paul to give the video back to the boys.
Kevin spends the rest of the day sulking around alone and becomes dejected after seeing the girls with the men from the club. Perry spends the day at the beach and bumps into the girls. The two men are revealed to be gay lovers who the girls had befriended. Gemma reveals she is attracted to Perry and Candice admits to liking Kevin. Perry then runs into Eyeball Paul, who says he likes their music and he will play it in the club that night. Perry hurries to tell Kevin the news, and the friends reconcile.
That night, they and the girls go to the club again in Paul's limousine. Paul tries to seduce the girls but Baz interrupts him. At Amnesia, their track is played, but the boys and Ray and Sheila, who had wanted to visit the club, are embarrassed to find that Paul has incorporated the sex tape and the boy's love messages to the girls into the track in an attempt to humiliate the boys.
This backfires on Paul when the track becomes a club favourite and the crowd, including the girls, love the boys and their mix. Unhappy at the boys' success, Paul turns off the track, which angers the crowd. Paul becomes annoyed and attempts to destroy the boy's vinyl record but is stopped by Baz. Paul fires Baz, who punches and pushes him off stage before returning the record to the boys to continue the set, and the crowd continue to party.
Kevin and Perry take over as DJs and keep the club dancing through the night. The next morning, Kevin and Perry have sex with Candice and Gemma, respectively, on a beach surrounded by other couples having sex.
The girls become the boys' girlfriends and later, Kevin and Perry are successful DJ's, signing copies of their record in a music shop with Baz as their new manager. Sharon receives a signed copy of the record and boasts that she and Kevin had sex before he was famous while Kevin's parents sign copies of their videos about better mid-marriage sexual intimacy. Eyeball Paul is revealed to have had a decline in his career after the events in Ibiza.
Cast
edit| Cast (in order of appearance) | Characters |
|---|---|
| Natasha Little | Anne Boleyn |
| Harry Enfield | Kevin |
| Louisa Rix | Mum (Sheila) |
| James Fleet | Dad (Ray) |
| Anna Shillinglaw | Bikini Girl |
| Kathy Burke | Perry |
| Badi Uzzaman | Shopkeeper |
| Sam Parks | Policeman |
| Kenneth Cranham | Vicar |
| Mark Tonderai | Record Store Boss |
| Patsy Byrne | Old Lady |
| Amelia Curtis | Sharon |
| Christopher Ettridge | Postman |
| Frank Harper | Armed Robber |
| Rupert Vansittart | Bank Manager |
| Laura Fraser | Candice |
| Tabitha Wady | Gemma |
| Rhys Ifans | Eyeball Paul |
| Steve O'Donnell | Big Baz |
| Paul Whitehouse | Bouncer 1 |
| James Dark | Clubber |
| James Murray | Candice's Adonis |
| Steve McFadden | Bouncer 2 |
Production
editMusic
edit- Y:Traxx – "Mystery Land (Sickboys Courtyard Remix)"
- The Precocious Brats feat. Kevin & Perry – "Big Girl (All I Wanna Do Is Do It!)"
- Fatboy Slim – "Love Island (4/4 Mix)"
- The Wiseguys – "Oh La La"
- Underworld – "King of Snake (Fatboy Slim Remix)"
- CRW – "I Feel Love (R.A.F. Zone Mix)"
- Jools Holland & His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra feat. Jamiroquai – "I'm In the Mood for Love"
- Fragma – "Toca Me"
- Fragma – "Toca Me (Inpetto Mix)"
- Ayla – "Ayla (DJ Taucher Remix)"
- Sunburst – "Eyeball (Eyeball Paul's Theme)"
- Yomanda – "Sunshine (Hi-Gate remix)"
- Oasis – "Wonderwall" (excerpts performed by Mr. & Mrs. Patterson)
- Mauro Picotto – "Lizard (Claxxix Mix)"
- Gladys Knight – "The Look of Love"
- Skip Raiders feat. Jada – "Another Day (Perfecto Dub Mix)"
- Samuel Barber – "Barber's 'Adagio For Strings'"
- Hybrid feat. Chrissie Hynde – "Kid 2000"
- The Precocious Brats feat. Kevin & Perry – "Big Girl (All I Wanna Do is Do It!) (Yomanda Remix)"
- Phil Pope & Los Lidos – "Mi Amour"
- Roger Sanchez – "The Partee"
- The Clash – "Straight To Hell"
- Lange feat. The Morrighan – "Follow Me"
- Tosca – "Fuck Dubs Parts 1&2"
- Groove Armada – "Chicago"
- The Birthday Party – "Release the Bats"
- Ver Vlads – "Crazy Ivan"
- Drew Milligan & Stewart Resiyn – "Elixir"
- Nick Bardon & Steve Warr – "Insanity"
- Dominic Glynn & Martin Smith – "Onslaught"
- Laurie Johnson – "Galliard"
- Mike Hankinson – "Death & The Maiden"
- Nightmares on Wax – "Sweet Harry" / "Emotion"
- Nightmares on Wax – "Ethnic Majority"
- Southside Spinners – "Luvstruck"
- The Precocious Brats feat. Kevin & Perry – "Big Girl (All I Wanna Do is Do It!) (The Shaft Remix)"
- Signum feat. Scott Mac – "Coming on Strong"
Locations
editThe Ibiza club Amnesia makes an appearance in the film. However, the front view of the club, as shown in the film, is not the same as the actual Amnesia. The DJ booth that Eyeball Paul uses in the film is not the actual booth of the club, which is sited above the giant "spectrum analyser", seen in the film to the right of the fictitious booth. The Harlequin Shopping Centre in Watford was also used. Freemans Close in Stoke Poges in Buckinghamshire was used for the location of the Pattersons' house. Ibiza Airport was briefly used; however, the footage of a Virgin Sun Airlines plane landing was actually filmed at El Altet airport in Alicante.
Kevin and Perry and Kevin's parents' apartment is in Santa Eulària des Riu in Ibiza. The beach that the boys go to is Cala Benirras on the western shore north of San Antonio. The buying of the indecent magazine was done in the high street of Shepperton. The opening sequence where Kevin dreams of saving Anne Boleyn from execution was filmed at Dover Castle.[1]
Reception
editBox office
editKevin & Perry Go Large was the top-grossing film at the British box office over the Easter weekend of 2000, taking £2 million and ranking as the number one film in the UK.[2] The next week the film was knocked off the top spot by Scream 3, but it regained its number one position the week after, in a week in which box office revenues were down due to warm weather.[3]
Critical reception
editThe film received mixed reviews by critics and has a rating of 14% on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The Guardian said the film was inferior to "the wave of American gross-out comedies," but noted that "Enfield himself can raise a laugh simply by throwing his arms around and moaning—as he frequently does—'I'm not your slave!'"[4] Empire rated the film 3 out of 5 stars.[5] Radio Times also gave the film 3 stars out of 5,[6] whilst the BBC rated the film 4 stars out of 5.[7] Mark Sinker of the British Film Institute reviewed the film, saying "Go Large is an amiable roll through vomit, poo and erections, public-humiliation and hating-your-parents gags, working through the most obvious permutations and a scatter of clever ones. Fans of Harry Enfield and Kathy Burke's characters get pretty much what they are after. Their foray beyond the television-skit format of Harry Enfield and Chums cheerfully enters the revolting world of Farrelly Brothers' humour."[8]
References
edit- ^ Kent Film Office (2 April 2000). "Kent Film Office Kevin & Perry Go Large Film Focus".
- ^ Scott, Mary. "Kevin And Perry goes large at UK cinemas". Screen Daily, 25 April 2000. EMAP Ltd. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
- ^ Scott, Mary. "Kevin And Perry go large again in the UK". Screen Daily, 8 May 2000. EMAP, Ltd. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
- ^ Pulver, Andrew. Kevin and Perry Go Large | Reviews | guardian.co.uk Film
- ^ Kennedy, Colin. Kevin And Perry Go Large Review | Movie – Empire
- ^ "Kevin & Perry Go Large | Film from RadioTimes". Archived from the original on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
- ^ BBC – Films – review – Kevin & Perry Go Large DVD
- ^ Sinker, Mark. BFI | Sight & Sound | Kevin & Perry Go Large (2000)