Review of Get Him to the Greek (2010) by Thomas B — 30 Jan 2015

Ahh, the much anticipated "sort of" sequel to Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Get Him to the Greek revolves around Aaron Green, a man in a truly depressing situation, a breeding ground for a sudden explosion of bottled up anger. He has a job which he can't seem to make headway in, a boss who is a borderline psychopath, a girlfriend who is a full-blown psychopath and workmates who do nothing but put him down. But when he has a great idea at work, things suddenly start getting interesting. The only problem is, his idea entails keeping a leash on a rockstar who is notoriously difficult to keep a leash on. Things begin to go awry and comedy ensues, blah blah blah. .

The only problem with this film, and it's a biggie, is that the plot and any opportunities to branch off in different directions run out about halfway through the film. The last half is a mish-mash of different situations which makes it seem like writers Segel and Stoller are scrambling for set pieces to fill up the run time. Oh sure, they take your mind off the fact with hundreds of great jokes, the script succeeds in that respect, it's a laugh a minute, but by the end of the film, you realise that it could have been about an hour shorter. There are some fantastic set pieces (the adrenaline needle scene is awesome) but it seems as though the writers have just stuck them all together and loosely joined them together with different characters. .

Another problem is the character development throughout the film. They are all very one-dimensional, except for Russell Brand but only those who still aren't tired of his schtick halfway through will actually care, and they aren't engaging enough to disregard this regard this fact. .

There are a lot of good points, hence the three stars. Segel and Stoller prove themselves to be one hell of a comedy duo with a lot of great set pieces, from Aldous' concert performances and great songs (particularly 'The Clap' and 'African Child') to, as I said before, the adrenaline scene. Russell Brand, too, is really quite good. He shines as Aldous, playing the role of slightly off his face, slightly heartbroken and very much larger than life fantastically. He delivers his lines in ways that you wouldn't usually expect, and it usually works. His calm delivery of the line "I'm going to stick this adrenaline needle into your heart," is great, and he is mostly believeable in his softer moments when he's calling Jackie. He's the main reason to watch this movie. Which is dissappointing, because I'm a big fan of Jonah Hill's motor mouth, and it wasn't utilized nearly enough. Whenever it is the movie is better for it but he is mostly sidelined in this movie, even though he's the leading man. .

Get Him to the Greek isn't a great comedy. It's fun to go see, or maybe hire out, but don't expect to get too much out of this one. It'll just make you want to go see Superbad again. .

Defining Scene: .

I feel like I've been over this. The adrenaline scene. One of the truly funny moments. Oh and the scene with Destiny is pretty funny in a "WHAT THE F..." sort of way.