If you’re in need of a laugh, get yourself to a theater to see Get Him to the Greek. I went in not expecting too much – perhaps to be mildly amused – but I found myself laughing out loud quite a few times. It’s basically a road trip movie involving a rock star whose career is fading and a low level record company employee sent to corral him and “get him to the Greek.”
Russell Brand plays the rock star – reprising his role as Aldous Snow from Forgetting Sarah Marshall – who is headed directly for “has been” territory after falling off the wagon, a bad break-up with his supermodel/pop star wife and releasing what has been deemed the “worst album ever.” Jonah Hill plays record man Aaron Green and Sean “P. Diddy” Combs plays his boss, record mogul Sergio Roma. Sergio is looking for brilliant ideas to help keep his six kids in Air Jordans and Aaron comes up with one – get Aldous Snow to play a comeback concert on the tenth anniversary of his history-making gig at L.A.’s Greek Theater. So Sergio gives Aaron the chance of a lifetime and sends him to London to get Aldous to Hollywood. The catch is he’s only got three days and Aldous is not exactly cooperative or sober. Sergio even warns Aaron, “Turn your back on him at your own peril.”
So we end up with a buddy pic where Aldous and Aaron through a series of outrageous and drunken adventures in London, New York, Vegas and Los Angeles get to know each other and, of course, bond. Brand is really good in the role. Aldous could have easily been a caricature but Brand plays him with heart and depth and you actually find yourself feeling for the guy. Hill is fine but I felt like he was the weak link in the movie and I really could have done with fewer scenes of him puking or having something stuck in an unmentionable orifice. The true scene stealer in the movie is P. Diddy. He is hilarious as Sergio.
The movie does have a few issues, there are too many gross-out scenes for my taste and, as is usually the case in these guy buddy comedies, the female characters are underdeveloped (particularly under-utilized is Mad Men’s Elisabeth Moss as Aaron’s girlfriend). As comedies go, there have surely been better ones, but not so far this summer. If you see it, you’ll get some good laughs and perhaps a new catch phrase: “When life slips you a Jeffrey, stroke the furry wall.” (You’ll have to see it to get it. I won’t spoil it here.)