It belongs to a genre that I do not always like, so my expectations for Get Him to the Greek were low. But this film has smart dialogue, likable characters, great performances and best of all, it is funny. It is really funny.

 The job seems simple enough. Record company executive Sergio (Sean “P. Diddy” Combs) sends employee Aaron (Jonah Hill) to London to pick up rock star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) and take him to New York for an interview on the Today show, and then to his concert at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. What could go wrong in three days?  But Aaron has a fight with girlfriend Daphne (Elisabeth Moss) and then must battle Aldous’s addictions, temper, father and many detours. And that is just the beginning.

 Writer/director Nicholas Stoller made the wise decision to keep his script simple, and trust that the funny would emerge.  Unlike some films (like the vastly inferior The Hangover) this story does not rely on tigers, kidnapping or other unlikely occurrences. The fact that the situation is more realistic makes the film funnier. Those familiar with the music business will get an extra laugh at the insincere enthusiasm of music business employees, but all of us can appreciate the buttoned up employee having to babysit the out of control rock star. Rock star Aldous Snow first appeared in Jason Segal’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and Stoller does an excellent job of fleshing out the character here. The film’s opening is a hilarious array of music videos, among them Snow’s flop “African Child.” Stoller concentrates on the relationship between Aldous and Aaron, and the performers make the most of Stoller’s material.

Russell Brand is perfect again as Aldous Snow and deserves this starring role. He is convincing as a decadent rock star as he sings and moves onstage to songs like “The Clap,” and stays high and inebriated. Yet he is also charming and likeable. Brand commits entirely to the character, deftly straddling the line between slight exaggeration and realistic portrayal. We understand his influence on Aaron as he convinces Aaron to join in his debauchery, asking, “Doesn’t it make sense that we stay here and have the time of your life?” he argues, British accent pronounced and eyes wide and innocent. Jonah Hill is sweet and sympathetic as Aaron diligently tries to get Aldous to his gig, but cannot help being star struck, as he describes Aldous saying, “He is rock and roll personified.”  Every time Aaron over indulges, he ends up covered in vomit, or worse.  The characters (and Brand and Hill) are great foils for each other, and keep the film funny and interesting. Mad Men’s Elisabeth Moss plays the straight man as Daphne, Aaron’s overworked girlfriend, and Brand, Hill and Moss somehow make a threesome funny.  Rose Byrne (most recently seen in television’s  Damages) is over the top funny as Jackie Q, Aldous’s ex-girlfriend, and her music video is one of the film’s funniest. Colm Meaney adds another layer of humor as Jonathan, the father of Aldous, as he gets mean and drunk and in Las Vegas, and makes Aldous seem like a responsible adult by comparison. But the best supporting performance in the film is Sean Combs as Sergio, Aaron’s boss.  He is at his funniest as the scary and threatening boss explaining the concept of the “mind fuck” to Aaron, using a steel gaze and intensely asking Aaron, “Do you feel my mind-dick going into your mind?”

Stoller directs the film at a brisk pace using fast cuts and montages (one especially funny montage features French fries, booze and vomit) for maximum comic effect. He also avoids the trap of having too many self-indulgent “serious” moments where characters learn some kind of lesson.  Stoller treads lightly here, so we see the change in the characters, but never at the expense of what is funny.  Although I did not expect it, Get Him to the Greek had me laughing for 109 minutes.

 

Get Him to the Greek.  Directed Nicholas Stoller.  Russell Brand (Aldous Snow), Rose Byrne (Jackie Q), Colm Meaney (Jonathan Snow), Jonah Hill (Aaron Green), Elisabeth Moss (Daphne Binks) and Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combs (Sergio Roma). Universal Pictures, 2010.

 

Gail sees a movie appears every Wednesday.

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