Get Him to the Greek Review

Author: M Miller Davis

Source: http://Blog.MMillerDavis.com/

BUZ Rating: See it in theaters

Movie Profile: Click Here

‘Greek’ is great R-rated fun

Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) is the quintessential rock and roll golem. Seemingly indestructible, he goes on a rampage of drugs and women (the likes of which would cause most mere civilian mortals to simply turn into a fine, cocaine based ash) after the love of his life, Jackie Q (Rose Byrne) leaves him. Meanwhile, record company CEO Sergio (Diddy) is desperately trying to find ways to reinvigorate the flagging music industry. Clever, but naïve Aaron Green (Jonah Hill) comes up with the idea to hold a 10th anniversary concert for Aldous’ band Infant Sorrow, at The Greek Theater in Los Angeles. The only problem is Aldous is currently in Great Britain with his insane cronies and inept but loving mother. So Sergio dispatches Green to wrangle Snow and ensure he makes a Today Show appearance and arrives at the Greek in 72 hours.

I went into this movie predicting something just above mediocre and left having laughed much more than expected. The gags are well timed and well executed by polished comedic actors Brand and Hill and, surprisingly, even Mr. P. Diddy Puff had me rolling in several scenes. One scene in particular involving an illegal cigarette called ‘The Jeffery” and a furry wall was particularly funny and outrageous. The movie is filled with up and coming comedic actors including Nick Kroll, Aziz Ansari, TJ Miller, and Neal Brennan. It has so many funny and extreme supplementary characters that both leads manage to play dual straight men for the majority of the film. Also, as in ‘Zoolander’, there is no shortage of celebrity cameos that give Aldous’ rock star lifestyle that little bit of extra shine.

I really enjoyed the music, which was intentionally filled to the seams with double entendre, but still managed to be pretty damn catchy. Much of the film is constructed in this way, with the music industry not only mocking itself (especially in a cameo by Lars Ulrich), but by taking the lifestyle to new extremes, shows everyone how silly (and perhaps unfulfilling) it really is.

Much of the movie relies on the craziness that is Aldous existence, specifically the drugs and the sex. It is no surprise then, that it earned a STRONG R rating. I wouldn’t recommend letting kids go see this (or at least make sure they are REALLY drunk). That being said, if you are of consenting age and like jokes about anal drug smuggling and black guys loving Kobe Bryant, this may be one of the funnier movies this summer.

One nice thing about the film is that it juxtaposes the vulgarity with a well executed sense of sentimentality about relationships that remains unobscured by the cynicism of the rest of the film. While the jokes revolve around a normal guy experiencing strippers and absinth for the first time, the film’s real center remains a story about love and the importance of real relationships. The outrageous R-rated comedy mixed with a heavy dose of sentimentality is the trend now though, especially the projects with which Judd Apatow is involved (Funny People, Knocked Up, Superbad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall). However, for the viewer that simply wants a stream of jokes, it may drag a bit in some select scenes, especially towards the end. The downside of the sentimental streak is that it slows the movie a bit and, while the transitions between serious and funwere handled very well, it is still sometimes difficult to be receptive to a love story after watching a string of dildo jokes.

Summary: It’s a funny flick for the over 18 crowd, with plenty of laughs and heart. Catch it in the theaters with friends.