Get Him To The Greek

Get Him to the Greek brings along another installment of the Judd Apatow family franchise, banking on awkward misfits seizing the day and gut-busting one-liners. Written and directed by Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Yes Man), Greek opens on Aldous Snow (as seen in Sarah Marshall), who has just released the audacious, insulting, and simply idiotic song, "African Child" about, you guessed it, starving African children. His once illustrious career is in the gutter, and to make matters worse, he has given up on seven years of sobriety after his girlfriend and baby-mama, Jackie Q., leaves him.

Jonah Hill, who played an aspiring artist who awkwardly attempts to give his demo-tape to Snow in Sarah Marshall, now takes on the role of Aaron Green, the wide-eyed and inexperienced doofus who works at a large record company, headed by the brazen, unapologetic, Sergio (Diddy). At Green’s suggestion, Snow is set to perform a reunion concert at L.A.’s Greek Theatre, and according to Sergio, it’s his job to get him there.

The consistently mercurial Russell Brand seems to play a mix of himself and British bad-boy rockers such as Pete Doherty, Noel Gallagher, and Keith Moon. However, unlike these characters and the Snow we became familiar with during Sarah Marshall, Brand shows a deeper, human side, which evokes empathy. He’s not just a sex-crazed, hard-partying rock star; he’s a person who is grappling with the price of fame, who everyone wants a piece of, and really, just wants to be loved.

Green’s character, like most of Hill’s roles, is affable and genuine, someone who actually wants to help Snow bring his career back to life, a fete he is at first resistant to. Instead, Green is brought into the world of sex, drugs, and rock and roll that we have become all too familiar with throughout the years of rockstars spiraling out of control into the abyss. Hill’s naivete is endearing, though the situations that ensue get a bit repetitive.

The sketch comedy is enjoyable, with just enough slap-stick and gross-outs, but what makes the film so great is that it’s actually endearing. Enough to ignore the sexism, crude humor, and overtly sexual innuendos, if you can even call them that.

Starring: Russel Brand, Jonah Hill, Diddy, Aziz Ansari, Elisabeth Moss
Director: Nicholas Stoller
Runtime: 109 Minutes
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Rating: R