Get Him to the Greek Never Gets There

By Todd A. Smith

½

          After a string of successful comedies, the producers behind Superbad and Knocked Up offer a new film, Get Him to the Greek that follows the same mold as their past hits.  The film starring Jonah Hill, Russell Brand and Sean Combs, however, simply does not live up to the genius of their previous movies.

            The movie gets off to a slow and almost offensive start as it chronicles the stumbling career of former rock star Aldous Snow (Brand) as he deals with the disappointment of losing his fame and his famous girlfriend, Jackie Q (Rose Byrne).

            Despite the ridiculously slow start the middle of the film is very hilarious as Hill and Brand display natural chemistry, despite finding themselves in awkward moments as Aaron Green (Hill) tries to get Aldous to leave Europe and perform a tenth anniversary concert at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.

            Aaron begins the movie as stand-up employee at Pinnacle Records, run by Sergio (Combs), but ends up living the epitome of sex, drugs and rock and roll because of the shenanigans of Aldous,

            Surprisingly, one of the highlights of the movie is the comedic timing of Combs, who is obviously very believable as an arrogant record company executive with little sympathy for his employees.  He basically recreates his image from the MTV “Making the Band” series in his role as Sergio.

            One of the best scenes involves a cameo appearance by hip-hop producer Pharrell Williams at a video shoot that mocks the “gangsta” rap culture that has made both men rich and famous.

            Get Him to the Greek begins to drag at the end as it attempts to show the human side of each character and what drives them to behave the way that they do.  However, the true success of the film comes from the silly antics of Brand, which should have been the focus of the entire film, not seriousness of reviving his struggling career.

            Nevertheless, the film manages to convey a message to moviegoers.  When Aldous is consumed with his drug habit, his professional and personal lives fall apart.  But when he manages to rid himself of that ugly habit he is able to recreate some of the magical moments that he enjoyed early in his career.

            The film disappoints because of the vulgarity used to get a few laughs, with Combs being the main culprit.  In one scene, Hill plants heroin in his rectum in order to get past airport security and board a plane.

            Nonetheless, if you are into crude humor, Get Him to the Greek might be the summer comedy for you, but others who are not a fan of such humor will be trying as hard to get out of the theatre as Hill and Brand were trying to get to the theatre for his comeback show.

            Hill is his usual solid self in this comedy, but if you truly want a laugh watch some of his earlier work instead, like the instant classic Knocked Up, and wait until E! Entertainment Television begins playing Get Him to the Greek every weekend like his other films.

            This film is now playing nationwide.

REGAL RATINGS

FOUR CROWNS=EXCELLENT

THREE CROWNS=GOOD

TWO CROWNS=AVERAGE

ONE CROWN=POOR

Smith is publisher of Regal Black Men's Magazine.