Get Him To The Greek

Director: Nicolas Stoller
Writers: Nicolas Stoller, Jason Segel (characters)
Starring: Jonah Hill, Russell Brand
Release Date: June 4, 2010
Length: 1 hour 49 minutes

Jonah Hill and Russel Brand star in Get Him To The Greek a spinoff of Forgetting Sarah Marshall of which both Brand and Hill were in. Also back on board is director Nicolas Stoller and this time he is the screenwriter as well.  In case you haven’t seen Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) is a charming, smart, crazy British rock star, who is the lead vocalist of the band Infant Sorrow. Aaron Green (Jonah Hill) works at a music agency that has been assigned the task of getting Snow from London to L.A. in three days to perform live at the Greek Theater. Green leaves his girlfriend Daphne and travels to London to pick up Snow, but when he gets there, he realizes his job might be a little more difficult than he expected. The first time I saw the character of Aldous Snow in 2008’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I thought I might have a heart attack from laughing so hard. As soon as I heard a spinoff of the film with his character in the lead would be made, I understood that maybe everyone else loved him too and wanted to see him again. Even if the plot were horrible (which it was not), even if all the other actors sucked (which wasn’t the case), I would have seen anything with the character of Aldous Snow again, especially when he is the main character. Jonah Hill was hilarious and Sean Combs as Jonah Hill’s boss, Sergio made me laugh a lot as well, but Brand carried this movie so well and not just as a comedian, but as a great actor too. It is also important to mention that Brand and Hill share one of the best on screen chemistries in a non-homosexual way, but in a sort of bromance way that is cute and funny. I can’t tell how much improvisation was done in this film, but whether it was the script or the actors, I couldn’t stop laughing. I myself was surprised to see that Stoller not only directed but wrote Get Him To The Greek as well. When you look at the only films he has written, Yes Man and Fun With Dick And Jane, you are surprised to find out he could have written a script as hilarious as this. Even though a lot of the credit goes to Jason Segel for creating these brilliant characters in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, some lines in this film caused me to miss the next joke because I was laughing so hard at the first. Elizabeth Moss finally shows off her comedic side, which no one knew she had because most people have only seen her as Peggy on Mad Men. Some people got a taste of her humor when she hosted SNL a couple years ago, which probably got her the role of Daphne in Get Him To The Greek. Although this seems like one of the most ridiculous comedies ever made, there is a slightly disturbing and dark feel to Get Him To The Greek. Brand’s character just seemed to much like Brand himself which was a little bit eerie. It was not just “I’m famous so I have no one I’m really close to”, but everything from the drug addictions to his horrible parenting made me think of the real troubling life Brand has gone through that he highlights in his autobiography, My Booky Wook. Get Him To The Greek is so far the best comedy of the year and is looking to be the best comedy of the summer.