On April 21, 2010, a free advanced screening of “Get Him to the Greek,” the latest in the line of comedies from Apatow Productions was shown at Witherspoon Student Center Campus Cinema for students.
Directed by Nicholas Stoller, “Get Him to the Greek” is a spin-off to 2008’s “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” that brings the secondary character Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) to the forefront. Aldous, a famous rock star, has descended back into a life of drugs and depravity following his break-up with fellow famous singer, Jackie Q (Rose Byrne). Joining Brand is Jonah Hill (“Funny People”), playing Aaron Green, a young music executive looking to help Aldous revitalize his career. Ironically, Hill was also in “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” though he plays an entirely different character here.
There are numerous other differences as well, the biggest being the entire tone of the film. While Stoller directed “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” Jason Segel took the reigns for “Get Him to the Greek.” However, Stoller did oversee writing duties. As a spin-off, therefore, the film has very little to do with its prequel, as it chooses to focus on drug and sex jokes more than relationship humor. Still, fans of the original will catch a great reference to the titular Sarah Marshall.
The plot is basic, acting simply as a frame around which to structure the film’s jokes. Aaron has been given the task of going to London and bringing Aldous back to New York and then to the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, so that he can perform a tenth anniversary concert of his last performance there. Of course, with any road trip comedy, the plan is quickly thrown off-kilter. Aldous’ partying ways get the best of him time and time again, leaving Aaron with the difficult task of keeping them on the move during the next 72 hours.
The problem with this premise, though, is that a lot of the impediments that crop up for the duo along the way are far too similar. While still in London, Aldous ignores Aaron’s pleas to catch their flight, choosing instead to party. Aaron finally submits, and the audience sees their wild escapades. This is a fair enough scene the first time through. The problem, however, is that the same thing happens both of the following nights, with the only changes coming from how and where they party. The fact that it is Aldous’ own flippant attitude and Aaron’s failure to take charge keeping them behind schedule make it hard to feel any tension over whether or not they will make it to the show.
As an R-rated comedy, though, the expectation is not necessarily that the story is great, but that the individual scenes composing it are funny. In this regard, “Get Him to the Greek” is a hit-and-miss. Some scenes break entirely from logic simply for a joke, which takes the viewer out of the experience. In particular, a scene with Aaron doing something illegal in the middle of an airport terminal is nonsensical, as he could do the exact same thing in the bathroom and be much better off.
I mentioned that the focus doesn’t rely on relationship humor very much, but when it does, the fun factor takes a nosedive. While both Aaron and Aldous have romantic interests, neither pairing feels as if they share legitimate chemistry, and only it only adds awkward, clunky scenes to the film. In fact, the conclusion of Aaron’s relationship with his girlfriend Daphne, played by Elisabeth Moss (“Mad Men”), is downright painful to watch, with Aldous’ involvement essentially emotionally scarring the young lovers.
The problems with relationships extend beyond the love interest, though. Aldous interacts with his mother, father and son throughout the film as well, and every scene of this nature only illustrates how little connection the actors seem to have with one another. Almost all of the family ties are based on hate, which makes the whole idea of even including Aldous’ family bizarre.
And at its core, the biggest problem “Get Him to the Greek” has is that it puts so much emphasis on the character relationships without allowing them any time to develop. Even the lead characters never seem to connect. While Brand and Hill both perform brilliantly in their respective roles, they spend a negligible amount of time interacting for the first hour of the film. As a result, when Aaron and Aldous have a heart-to-heart moment at the film’s climax, the viewer is left wondering why they should care.
For all the missteps, “Get Him to the Greek” actually has a lot of things going right for it, with individual aspects shining through at various points. There are several songs from both Aldous and Jackie Q that parody the ludicrous messages of modern music quite well. For example, “African Child,” Aldous’ failed single highlighting genocide in areas such as Darfur, is wildly inappropriate, but pokes fun at songs written for humanitarian causes.
Also, while I criticized the repetition of drugs and partying keeping the duo off-schedule, it is in these party scenes that the film manages its funniest material. A fight scene in Las Vegas while the characters are all high kept the laughs coming fast for its entire duration.
Indeed, the paradox of “Get Him to the Greek” is that while it tries to use romantic sub-plots to give the movie heart and anchor its characters, it so clearly wants nothing more than to focus on the over-the-top situations Aaron and Aldous find themselves in. If anything, ditching the relationships and focusing on two guys getting into trouble would have given the film more room to expand upon its more exciting concepts.
Also, it would be a disservice to not mention that, surprisingly, the best performance of the movie is turned in by Sean “P. Diddy” Combs as record label manager Sergio, Aaron’s boss. Though not known for his acting talent, Combs plays the role with a manic glee, taking his character to an over-the-top level fitting of the movie’s best scenes. Every time Combs was on-screen, there was stellar delivery of genuinely funny lines, as well as hysterical facial expressions and gestures. If nothing else, “Get Him to the Greek” will hopefully lead to more comedy roles for Combs in the future.
Overall, “Get Him to the Greek” comes out a middle-of-the-road affair. When the movie lets its stars loose to go crazy and have fun, the audience does as well. However, encumbered as it is by poorly handled relationships, one wishes that the film had not tried to find its heart and just focused on the vulgar, inappropriate college-age comedy it truly is.
“Get Him to the Greek” is scheduled for release June 4.
