Reviewed by Kate Rodger
Get Him to the Greek is from the same writers and director of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and has all the same flavour and intent.
Here the character of Aldous Snow, rock-god, takes centre stage, after his earlier smaller outing as Sarah Marshall’s new boyfriend. He is as drug-addled, sex-mad and self-absorbed as always, but as the lead, obviously on a far grander scale. That’s enough right there to sell a ticket to every single person who loved Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
British comedian Russell Brand trades on his own personal/public persona as Aldous Snow, and his laconic outrageousness has a certain appeal, offset in this instance by the always engaging anti-hero Jonah Hill (Superbad).
Hill plays hapless music exec Aaron, given the break of a lifetime by his boss Sergio (Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs). His mission, one he chooses to accept, is to escort Aldous Snow from London to Los Angeles, to play a one-off career-saving music-industry-reviving gig. Sounds simple enough, but this is the movies, and nothing is ever simple in the movies. Our fading rock-god has a few issues, the very least of which is his drug-habit, and poor Aaron must move hell and high water to get his ward to the chapel on time.
Of course, it’s in all the mayhem where much of the humour is found. This is rated R16, so remember this humour may be at the expense of your good taste. This will please some, but may bore the rest by the time the final credits roll.
The performances were certainly pitched well. While Diddy was patchy he had some good moments, and great to see Mad Men darling Elizabeth Moss in a good big screen role as Hill’s girlfriend, the perfect foil. Watch out too for Australian actress Rose Byrne almost unrecognisable as Snow’s nutcase geezer-slapper ex-girlfriend Jackie Q.
I feel like I am saying this a little too much lately, but here’s another example of “leave your brain at the door” and grab the popcorn. While the drug/drunk/sex/vomit jokes eventually wore very thin for me, I am not really the target market here. I did laugh out loud enough to keep boredom at bay, but I won’t be rushing out to buy Aldous Snow’s Greatest Hits anytime soon.
Three Stars.
Get Him to the Greek
:: Director: Nicholas Stoller
:: Starring: Jonah Hill, Russell Brand, Rose Byrne, Kali Hawk, Aziz Ansari, Sean 'Diddy' Combs
:: Running Time: 109 mins
:: Rating: R16 - Contains Drug Use, Sex Scenes & Offensive Language
:: Release Date: June 17, 2010
:: Links: Trailer
