Get Him to the Greek

Get Him to the Greek

Starring Jonah Hill, Russell Brand, Sean Combs, and Elisabeth Moss
Directed by Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall)
Rated R for strong sexual content and drug use throughout, and pervasive language
Appropriate for ages 17+

    A record company intern (Hill) comes up with the bright idea of putting on a rock concert featuring the once famous, but now down and drugged-out, rocker Aldous Snow at the venue that made him famous to begin with: the Greek theater in L.A.  The problem is that Aldous is in London and the concert is only 72 hours away, and getting him there is all up to this young, inexperienced and shy intern.

    After Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Judd Apatow, Nicholas Stoller and gang decided that Aldous Snow was just too great of character to leave alone, so they decided on a spinoff movie.  Forgetting about Jonah’s turn as the waiter in Sarah Marshall, they gave him a new persona and made him the co-lead in this very original road-trip buddy film that almost works. 

    Brand and Hill have great chemistry here that shows throughout.  While at first it appears that they almost work too well together, Brand’s character fixes that dilemma and the conflict really helps not only the comedy, but also the story.  Also adding to the huge laughs is Sean Combs who steals every scene he appears in. 

    What doesn’t work here is the overly-dramatic romantic subplot between Hill and Moss.  Not only does it take away from the buddy film, but the scene where Brand, Hill and Moss finally confront each other almost ruins the picture and while it doesn’t quite kill the movie, it definitely puts the brakes on and kills the mood to the point where it’s hard to get it back. 

    Still, I went to this film to laugh, and that I did.  My wife laughed so hard it drove her into labor and we gave birth to our first son the next day.  It doesn’t possess the comedy consistency of the other Apatow projects, but nevertheless, it’s still a more enjoyable movie than most of the pictures showing right now.  B