Get Him to the Greek - Review

The unstoppable force known as Russell Brand has slowly wore me down over the years. Once being completely repulsive, then gradually just being mildly irritating to eventually being just well...Russell Brand.

Having more or less offended everyone significant in media and television within the United Kingdom, he has since taken his business state-side hosting various awards shows for MTV as well as appearing in the surprisingly entertaining Forgetting Sarah Marshall (which is subtly referenced in this film). Though basically playing himself in the aforementioned film, the insidious Hollywood moguls felt he has warranted a spin-off movie of his own in the form of Get Him to the Greek.

A record company intern (Jonah Hill) is hired to accompany out-of-control British rock star Aldous Snow (Brand) to a concert at L.A.'s Greek Theatre. As you can probably imagine events don't quite work out as young Hill would hope as Snow drags him kicking and screaming through a warped world of drugs, alcohol, sex and rock & roll.

Despite being nothing more than a vehicle for marketing Brand's logic defying appeal in the USA, Get Him to the Greek was actually quite enjoyable. Coming across as a bizarre mixture of Spinal Tap (especially in Snow's songs) meets Judd Aptow, the film works well as a harmless satire of the entertainment industry in the 21st Century.

With Brand destroying everything in his path the film could have easily been a disaster waiting to happen. Thankfully picking up the pieces he leaves behind in his path are a bunch of fun and accessible supporting performances from Jonah Hill - as the token heart and soul loser of the piece - Mad Men's wonderful Elisabeth Moss - Hill's boring, controlling but endearing girlfriend - Colm Meaney - Brand's estrange moocher father - and a stand-out performance from Sean 'Diddy' Combs as the utterly insane boss of Hill.

There wasn't a big lot to truly hate about Get Him to the Greek but there wasn't a big lot to truly love about it either. Besides one eventful scene in a Las Vegas hotel room (which in fairness has to be seen to be believed) I'm struggling to really find anything which was genuinely hilarious or quotable, which at the end of the day is the real testament to any classic comedy.

Besides being a standard job any director could have taken, the film's soundtrack was definitely one of the more pleasing aspects of the whole production, featuring the likes of The Clash, The Sex Pistols, The Rolling Stones, Mars Volta, Goldfrapp, T-Rex and hell even Dexy's Midnight Runners! Come on Eileen indeed...

Final Thoughts
Get Him to the Greek is essentially a film you will either welcome into your heart, and DVD collection or detest immensely pending how much you like Russell Brand or not. Being simply a causal fan of his work, at best, I only just enjoyed it, but let's face facts he's not an actor, I doubt he's really capable of anything more than this. On that note I say, let him have his fun for now but please sooner rather than later, can we 'get him out of the cinema'?

3/5

See This If You Liked...
Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Spinal Tap, Funny People

Get Him to the Greek is in cinemas everywhere now.