Get Him to the Greek
However there were the usual signs. I'm not a fan of Jonah Hill at all, and the trailers did look like they were doing the tick boxing to say "look, he's playing the same role as the other comedies we've seen him in so you know you'll love it", and it was saying the same thing about the film as a whole. Yet if that had been the case I wouldn't have enjoyed Get Him to the Greek and as it turned out I really did.
Get Him to the Greek follows Aaron Green, a young executive in a record company played by Jonah Hill, who comes up with the idea of reviving the career of an over the hill rocker who is signed to the company rather than churning out another hip-hop album for the record label owner Sergio Roma, played by P. Diddy.
The plan is to find the faded, washed out, drunk and drug riddled British rock star and take him to the venue where he played one of the most successful albums of his, and the record labels, career and recreate the famous concert on its anniversary.
At first the boss hates the idea, but when his own plans fail he calls on Aaron and sets him the task of picking up the star from Britain and taking him across to America for the concert. However time is running short, the star is a shadow of his former self and has returned to his old ways of drugs and drink, and has tried to shed his old musical genre for something new, without any success at all.
Already Aaron is up against it. He has next to no time, and an uncontrollable star who doesn't want to play the songs that everyone wants to hear at the anniversary concert. Add in to the mix that his own love life has fallen apart and is hanging by a thread, and the odds are stacked against him.
As I said I was very surprised that Get Him to the Greek was so enjoyable, and that was mainly down to the writers delivering such a script that didn't seem to follow the convention of Hollywood comedy. Sure there were some standard moments in there, but they weren't just an outpouring of sexual and bodily function jokes, something that you so often hear in American comedies. Instead there was a lot of clever humour, even when it is based around the more sexual side of the humour.
There was a lot made of the character played by P. Diddy who turned out to be hilarious to watch, the combination of the real life character and the role that is so close to his own real life role was perfect, and the way he played the character, particularly during the party scene, was just fantastic. In fact I was laughing out loud during the scenes of stroking the furry wall, but Diddy playing his drug breakdown was one of the highlights of the film. This guy might just have a career ahead of him, and I never thought I'd say that about P. Diddy the actor.
Russell Brand was the highlight of the film though, his character was the one that was responsible for most of the comedic set-ups and also the one who has the biggest turn around come the end. His performance was convincing and surprisingly honest at times, and he managed to hold back his wilder side for most of the film giving a performance that seemed somewhat restrained compared to where his character could have gone, and where I expected it to go.
I am often disappointed by Jonah Hill, his performance can feel rather offhand and disinterested, and at times a little grating. Although there were moments of that here, his character was allowed to go a little wilder than I've seen him before, and that's a good thing. He plays a great foil for Brand's character who is always pulling him into difficult situations which always, somehow, seem to turn out just right.
There are some other amusing appearances from other celebrities and together the cast turns out to be rather well chosen. Rose Byrne is quite the surprise too; she really does give a strong comic performance and sits well alongside Brand, neither overshadowing the other. I would have liked to have seen more of the two in their on and off relationship.
The story plays out well, and you can see where most threads are going to go in the end, although there are some surprises and unexpected turns in a few places. It also manages to say some interesting and positive things without becoming preachy or losing sight of the comedy and becoming a little too serious. Actually I can say it never becomes too serious, even when it is being serious, and when it's being funny it really does manage to be rather funny, at times hilarious.
The ending of the film is a little odd with the accident and the turnaround of the character, but in the end the moral comes through without too much of a slap in the face with the big message moment and it all fits together nicely leaving you feeling as though you've been entertained, had a laugh, and not been doled out the usual run of the mill comedy.
Get Him to the Greek is an entertaining and funny film with some surprising appearances and funny performances. Coupled with some clever comedy writing bringing to life some strange and funny moments, as well as some rather unusual characters and situations, it will deliver more than the usual comedy.
Brand and Hill work well together and are rather funny in the bizarre situations that Brand's character lands Hill's in. Byrne and Diddy have great characters too, and Diddy is a big surprise, his character is written perfectly for him and provides for some very funny moments, throwing his all into it. That's something you have to admire.
All in all Get Him to the Greek is an enjoyable comedy that will entertain well and deliver some great laughs.
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