Review: Get Him to the Greek

You might remember Russell Brand’s rock star character Aldous Snow from 2008’s highly underrated Forgetting Sarah Marshall. While his role in that existed solely as a side character to make the protagonist Peter (Jason Segel) jealous, Get Him to the Greek finally allows him to play Aldous in his full glory. And when you unleash Brand, things get crazy. Let’s put it this way: This makes The Hangover look like a kids movie. I had tears running down my face for most of it from laughing so hard.

After Aldous’s latest album “African Child” bombs, he falls off the wagon (after seven years clean) and goes back to the world of drugs and booze and acts like a wild man on rag Hollywood gossip shows TMZ and Extra. Cut to the boardroom of a Los Angeles-based record label run by the tyrant Sergio Roma (Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combs as we’ve never seen him before) where employee Aaron Green (Jonah Hill) pitches the idea of signing Aldous, his idol, for a reunion gig at the Greek Theatre in L.A. Sergio finally agrees to the idea and sends Aaron to go pick Aldous up in London to ensure he makes it to the concert on time.

This is where the movie starts to get nuts with its many scenes of debauchery and downright lewdness. Aaron, who was in a long-term relationship until leaving to get Aldous, has sex with a random blond in the bathroom of a bar mere hours after landing in London. He gets wasted and pukes multiple times. Soon he’s smuggling and doing drugs. He’s having the time of his life trying to keep up with the rock star he’s been a fan of since high school. But will he get him to the Greek Theatre on time? Doesn’t really matter because the ride there is what makes Get Him to the Greek so damn awesome, and the longer they take, the more awesome it gets.

Pairing Brand and Hill together was a genius move by director Nicholas Stoller. Although the two were in Forgetting Sarah Marshall together, Hill was a different character and they didn’t really share any screen time. Here they play off each other brilliantly with Brand’s over-the-top routine and Hill’s dry sense of humour, mixing better than any other recent comedic duo I can recall. Combs surprised me as I didn’t think he could pull off comedy. In this role he absolutely shines and delivers some of the best moments in the film. Rose Byrne, who plays Aldous’s ex Jackie Q, was also a stand-out in her role that must have been modeled after the gimmicks of Lady GaGa.

Get Him to the Greek is a sleazy, dirty, and absolutely hilarious film that I have to see again because certain scenes are still swimming around in my head (and because I missed a lot from laughing so hard). If you want something to kick off your weekend with a bang, this is it.

**** out of 5 stars

Rated 18A
Cast: Russell Brand, Jonah Hill, Sean Combs, Rose Byrne
Directed by: Nicholas Stoller
Official Site IMDb

brian.mckechnie@citynews.rogers.com

ALSO OPENING THIS WEEK: Splice, Marmaduke, Land, Killers

Top image: A scene from Get Him to the Greek. Courtesy Universal Pictures.