Get Him To The Greek
Review
by Sean Lynch
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Get Him To The Greek
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When it comes to Russell Brand, and to a lesser extent the "Apatow Gang" brand, you either love or hate them.
Needless to say Get Him to the Greek
will please plenty, and leave countless others scratching their heads
asking "Where are the jokes in this so-called comedy movie?".
Get Him to the Greek reunites Jonah Hill and Russell Brand with their Forgetting Sarah Marshall
director Nicholas Stoller and characters in the story of a record
company executive with three days to drag uncooperative rock legend
(Aldous Snow) to Hollywood for a comeback concert.
Aaron Green
(Jonah Hill) is given one warning from his boss (a trailblazing
performance by P Diddy): "The artist is the worst person on Earth".
What
follows is a good, old fashioned, incredibly loosely structured (there
are some emotional tangents about daddy issues littered along the way
too), rock and roll, comedy road trip.
There are some fine
moments on offer (the Las Vegas party to end all Las Vegas parties is a
true highlight), full to the brim of loose and free spirited ad libbing
- the sort that has become an Apatow Gang
staple - as well as some scene stealing moments from Aussie Rose Byrne,
and some of the most refreshingly fun drug and alcohol sequences seen
on screen in a long, long time.
That said, this particular style of comedy isn't for everyone - and in this particular case - nowhere near as broadly pleasing to crowds as Superbad, Knocked Up or 40 Year Old Virgin.
This is partly due to the "No Actual Jokes" argument that seems to be floating around post screenings of Get Him To The Greek - because, let's face it - Russell Brand has never been so much a "joke teller" as he is a "charismatic word smith".
Not that it's a bad thing, it's just his patented brand of whimsy.
That's what you'll get here, lots of clever uses of vocabulary intertwined with obscure pop-culture references.
So
if two men running down a never-ending hotel hallway punctuated by the
phrase "It's Kubrick-ian!" doesn't get you giggling, then perhaps hope
that a surprisingly solid performance from Brand (he handles emotion
quite well, and is captivating to watch) will.
Fast paced and
crazy, this is well worth checking out - especially if you are a fan of
the "Apatow" genre, as there are plenty of cameos from the "Apatow
Universe" - as it's easily the best comedy on the market at the moment
(despite it's occasional "one tone-ness").
Most importantly, Get Him To The Greek is out and out fun.
Believe me, if Get Him To The Greek
doesn't inspire you to go out on your own three day Rock & Roll
bender... then this was never the movie for you in the first place. 4 out
of 5
Get Him To The Greek
Australian release: 17th June,
2010
Official
Site: Get Him To The Greek
Cast: Jonah Hill, Russell Brand, Elisabeth Moss, Rose Byrne, Colm Meaney, Sean Combs
Director: Nicholas Stoller
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