Get Him to the Greek (B or 3/4 stars)
A record company intern is hired to accompany brilliant, but unstable British rock star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) to a concert at L.A.'s Greek Theater in 'Get Him to the Greek', directed by Nicholas Stoller, & produced by Judd Apatow. Aaron (Jonah Hill) is an ambitious go-getter at said record company; & he steps up to the plate just in time for a career-making (or breaking) assignment: fly to London & escort Aldous to the 'Greek' on a $100 million, 10th anniversary of his heyday tour. Aaron's power/money hungry boss, Sergio (Sean Combs, aka P. Diddy) is the man telling him what to do. Aldous Snow - a character in Stoller's previous film 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' - however, is interested in little more than having sex, drinking, & drugging his way through life; after the recent break-up from his ex, fellow entertainer, Jackie Q (Rose Byrne). Aldous also parties to numb the pain of having been used for $$ by his dad (a great Colm Meaney).
Aaron is a huge fan of Aldous, but is hell bent on getting him on a plane to get to the Greek theater. Impressionable, nervous, & straight-laced ... Aaron wants to win-over his idol, but also please his boss. Over the course of 72 hours, Aaron & Aldous form an unlikely bond. Knowing - amid his alcohol & drug-induced haze that Aaron is the only person he has - Aldous wants him to relax & enjoy life; which leads to a string of rambunctious, & orgied occurrences. But when Aldous discovers that Jackie Q. is also in California, he makes it his life quest to win her back before kick-starting his rock star resurgence (at the 'Greek'). With the concert mere hours away, Aaron must try to right Aldous into avoiding the kind of drug smuggles, brawls, & lap dances that have plagued him recently. Can Aaron please his boss, Sergio, AND put Aldous on the right path. Will Aldous retain his flailing legacy?
First & foremost, I am giving this film a recommendation & B rating because it is simply the funniest movie of the year so far (6 months in!). Judd Apatow, while not my favorite director/writer/producer, has yet to disappoint me. There are a boatload of laughs to be had while watching this film. And it's the type of humor where you'll miss the next line or 2 of dialogue from trying to recover from the hearty laughter. Most of the laughs are cheap, gross-out, exploitative, & raunchy, but the director/writer/actors deliver it all with wit & self-deprecation. And because it IS Apatow, there's also an element of human drama to the narrative which makes you contemplate/introspect the characters at hand. He always mixes the sweet with the sour, so to speak. I like that about these productions.
I am so glad that Russell Brand has been given this opportunity to show what he's got. I liked him in prior films, but as the outrageous Aldous Snow, Brand has won a fan in me. Brand is off-the-wall, hedonistic, impulsive, but understandably so - given his life situation (bad relationship with his dad, dependency issues, etc.). Brand humanizes Aldous as much as can be expected in an R-rated comedy such as this. Much of what happens in the plot may not be too grounded in reality ... but the characters of Aldous & Aaron (played with great comic awareness, & hang-dog passivity by Jonah Hill) ARE grounded in reality. These two compliment each other very well; the very definition of ying & yang. Rose Byrne is hysterical as the slut-with-a-heart, Jackie Q. Elizabeth Moss is stellar as Aaron's habitually tired, but loving girlfriend. And P. Diddy is fantastic as the egomaniacal Sergio - stealing scenes left & right. I laughed hard & often thanks to him.
Get Him to the Greek's premise is inspired, & I laughed my butt off. That said, the structure is weak - no buildup, or story traction; filling in the holes with drug/sex infused comic sketches. The 1st part of the film is side-splittingly funny, most of what transpires in the middle falls flat (or is rushed), parts near the end are great (on both a humorous & dramatic level), but then it ends limply; as if Stoller had no idea how to conclude proceedings. SO, it's kind of an uneven mess ... but at least it's entertaining. I loved the rapid-fire jokes. And there is one debauched party scene at the end that had me in stitches. You see, 'GMTTG' works best as an obscene, drunk-with-laughter romp; rather than focusing on the poignant parts (though some are effective, like a revelatory swimming pool scene). Bottom line: parts of it are frenetic to a fault ... but if what you want is a clever, often uproarious Sex, Drugs, & Rock 'n' Roll satire, then definitely check this movie out.
Aaron is a huge fan of Aldous, but is hell bent on getting him on a plane to get to the Greek theater. Impressionable, nervous, & straight-laced ... Aaron wants to win-over his idol, but also please his boss. Over the course of 72 hours, Aaron & Aldous form an unlikely bond. Knowing - amid his alcohol & drug-induced haze that Aaron is the only person he has - Aldous wants him to relax & enjoy life; which leads to a string of rambunctious, & orgied occurrences. But when Aldous discovers that Jackie Q. is also in California, he makes it his life quest to win her back before kick-starting his rock star resurgence (at the 'Greek'). With the concert mere hours away, Aaron must try to right Aldous into avoiding the kind of drug smuggles, brawls, & lap dances that have plagued him recently. Can Aaron please his boss, Sergio, AND put Aldous on the right path. Will Aldous retain his flailing legacy?
First & foremost, I am giving this film a recommendation & B rating because it is simply the funniest movie of the year so far (6 months in!). Judd Apatow, while not my favorite director/writer/producer, has yet to disappoint me. There are a boatload of laughs to be had while watching this film. And it's the type of humor where you'll miss the next line or 2 of dialogue from trying to recover from the hearty laughter. Most of the laughs are cheap, gross-out, exploitative, & raunchy, but the director/writer/actors deliver it all with wit & self-deprecation. And because it IS Apatow, there's also an element of human drama to the narrative which makes you contemplate/introspect the characters at hand. He always mixes the sweet with the sour, so to speak. I like that about these productions.
I am so glad that Russell Brand has been given this opportunity to show what he's got. I liked him in prior films, but as the outrageous Aldous Snow, Brand has won a fan in me. Brand is off-the-wall, hedonistic, impulsive, but understandably so - given his life situation (bad relationship with his dad, dependency issues, etc.). Brand humanizes Aldous as much as can be expected in an R-rated comedy such as this. Much of what happens in the plot may not be too grounded in reality ... but the characters of Aldous & Aaron (played with great comic awareness, & hang-dog passivity by Jonah Hill) ARE grounded in reality. These two compliment each other very well; the very definition of ying & yang. Rose Byrne is hysterical as the slut-with-a-heart, Jackie Q. Elizabeth Moss is stellar as Aaron's habitually tired, but loving girlfriend. And P. Diddy is fantastic as the egomaniacal Sergio - stealing scenes left & right. I laughed hard & often thanks to him.
Get Him to the Greek's premise is inspired, & I laughed my butt off. That said, the structure is weak - no buildup, or story traction; filling in the holes with drug/sex infused comic sketches. The 1st part of the film is side-splittingly funny, most of what transpires in the middle falls flat (or is rushed), parts near the end are great (on both a humorous & dramatic level), but then it ends limply; as if Stoller had no idea how to conclude proceedings. SO, it's kind of an uneven mess ... but at least it's entertaining. I loved the rapid-fire jokes. And there is one debauched party scene at the end that had me in stitches. You see, 'GMTTG' works best as an obscene, drunk-with-laughter romp; rather than focusing on the poignant parts (though some are effective, like a revelatory swimming pool scene). Bottom line: parts of it are frenetic to a fault ... but if what you want is a clever, often uproarious Sex, Drugs, & Rock 'n' Roll satire, then definitely check this movie out.