GET HIM TO THE GREEK
Director: Nicholas Stoller Cast: Jonah Hill, Russell Brand, Sean Combs, Elisabeth Moss, Rose Byrne, Colm Meaney MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:49 Release Date: 6/4/10 |
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Review by Mark Dujsik | June 3, 2010 The
old adage says to never meet your hero. Get Him to the Greek raises the ante on that lesson. By the time the film is over, the rock star here takes pictures of his
fan puking, coerces him into stick a bag of heroin where the sun doesn't shine,
and tries to have sex with his girlfriend. The
rocker is Aldous Snow (Russell Brand), the too-cool object of jealousy in Forgetting
Sarah Marshall. The years have
not treated Aldous well. His love of
seven years has left him, his drug addiction has kicked back in, and his most
recent single "African Child" has been dubbed the worst thing to
happen to Africa since apartheid. His
downfall is shown in a whirlwind montage of talk shows and tabloids that opens
the film. It is the first of Get
Him to the Greek's many funny sequences, which revel in the dizzying daze of
infamy. After
hitting rock bottom (although rock bottom for a rock star is still seen as
relatively carefree), Aldous lives in a London loft with his mother. Meanwhile, Aaron (Jonah Hill), a young record company intern, is
realizing his dream job might be in jeopardy. His boss, the aptly named Sergio Roma (Sean Combs), has presented the
hard facts: the music industry is dying. He'll
be fine, though. After all, he owns
21 cockatoos, and he dares any of his employees to say they even have one. No one dares question the logic of bird-owning as proof of financial
stability. Aaron's
girlfriend Daphne (Elisabeth Moss) has the opportunity to fulfill her residency
at a hospital in Seattle. Aaron
doesn't want to move, so she suggests they take a break. He assumes they have broken up. The
answer to all their problems comes in the form of a ten year anniversary of a
famous concert Aldous performed at the Greek Theatre. Sergio orders Aaron to get Aldous from London to L.A. in 72 hours for the
show, and Aaron is more than happy to accommodate the opportunity to hang out
with one of his idols. Aldous
is a functioning wreck, certain the concert is scheduled two months from the
time Aaron arrives. Sergio prepped
Aaron on how to talk to a star, especially when asked about a creative and
financial flop, but there is no way to prepare for Aldous' rampant need to go
out and party when he's supposed to be boarding a flight for New York to appear
on a national show the next morning. The
film is a series of comic escapades, each one a bit crazier than the last. Most of them result in Aaron vomiting, once on himself, and they all
possess a reckless spirit of abandon. Trying
to keep Aldous just sober enough for his live network television appearance,
Aaron drinks all the whiskey in the limo and quickly smokes his charges joint
then runs around asking anyone he can find if they know the lyrics to Aldous'
disastrous anti-war-in-someplace song, as the rocker has forgotten them. They
drink one last drink for the night, which just happens to be absinthe, and then
there's Aaron's late-night run through Las Vegas to score heroin for Aldous, shown
in quick cuts of worsening circumstances. The
Vegas trip is to reunite with Aldous' father (Colm Meaney), bass player for a
Rat Pack tribute group, who thinks he has creative credit for his son's work
simply because he provided the sperm necessary for his conception. That episode brings Sergio along for the ride, playing a mind game on all
involved, although the rules seem to only be known to him. Not even getting hit by a car can stop the boss from chasing after his
rogue intern and the rock star. Then
there's Aldous' ex Jackie Q (Rose Byrne), a pop singer with vaguely disguised
suggestive lyrics (and a strange need to explain exactly what she means at the
very end of the song, even though it's quite clear). He wants her back, or at least he thinks he
does. She sets him straight in a surprisingly insightful scene, pointing out
that while he was sober he was doing yoga five hours a day. An addict will find anything to fill an
addiction. It has left Aldous a lonely man, and writer/director Nicholas Stoller
isn't afraid to let that honesty come out of his party-loving fool. Copyright © 2010 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
Buy Related Products Buy the Soundtrack (MP3 Download)
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(for
strong sexual content and drug use throughout, and pervasive language)
