Get Him to the Greek
Monday, October 25, 2010 at 12:00PM
Release Year: 2010 Director: Nicholas Stoller Review: I loved Russell Brand's character Aldus Snow in 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall', and so I was looking forward how an entire movie starring the stereotypical rock star would work out. Aldus has fallen off the wagon, and in a big way. After his career tanks and he loses the love of his life, he resorts to drugs and parties. Aaron(Jonah Hill), a low level talent scout at a record label, is tasked with bringing the rocker back to the States for a comeback show. Aldus has no intention of making this journey an easy one, and so the adventure begins.
This is a funny movie. The laughs-per-minute are high. There is something missing which keeps this in the Apatow-light category. It's missing heart. So while the movie is frenetic, outrageous, and makes you laugh, its not something that really fulfills, or lingers in any way. It feels very much like 'The Hangover' in that way. In fact, it goes in the opposite direction, where I was actually wincing at some of the messages that are implied and groaning at the decisions made by Aaron. By the end, Aaron was doing things that were in complete contrast to everything that his character was set up to be. It breaks any emotional investment built with the character and makes it hard to have anything but superficial fun with this movie.
What does work is Russell Brand as Aldus, who is just plain fun to watch wreaking havoc. Honestly, even if everything else was terrible, I would probably still have a good time watching Brand just wander around interacting with people. It may not have the same hook as other Apatow produced comedies, but its still funny.
Rating: 3/5
Reader Comments (1)
Pretty accurate. I saw this in the theatres when it came out (one of the few movies I've actually seen in theatres in the past few years). I remember feeling the same way about Jonah Hill's character. I think that speaks to the power of Apatow. He makes you care about characters so that you feel bad when they make poor decisions. And Brand is just hysterical.