Review of Get the Gringo (2012) by Chads. — 10 Jun 2010

Unbeknownst to Aaron Green, he has a doppleganger; his name is Matthew van der Wyk, a hapless waiter/aspiring rock star who works at a Hawaiian resort, and they're both played by Jonah Hill. As Aaron, an intern for a major label record company, Hill gives what amounts to a naive meta-performance, in which he incognizantly reprises his role from Nicholas Stoller's "Forgetting Sarah Marshall", as both star and filmmaker pay incidental homage to Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieslowski, since the music industry flunky in "Get Him to the Greek", like the hotel employee soaking up the Oahu sun from the 2008 film starring Jason Siegel, are similar in that they're likeminded music lovers who gush over the same rock star, Infant Sorrow frontman Aldous Snow(Russell Brand).

Before Kieslowski achieved international recognition with "Trzy Kolory"(American title: "The Three Colours Trilogy"), he made "The Double Life of Veronique", starring Irene Jacobs in a dual role, giving a bravura but subtle performance as duplicate musical artists, Veronika and the titular character, singers both, whereas Aaron and Matthew are groupies both, living in two different countries(Hawaii and the United States), as does the indistinguishable women(Poland and France), who almost meet, when Veronika sees Veronique fleetingly on a Krakow sidewalk through the window of a moving bus.

The only windows condusive to the transfiguration of abiding doubles in "Get Him to the Greek" are Aldous' eyes, where Matthew sees the future, sees Aaron, a potential A & R man who might listen to his demo tape should the junkie rock star pass it along.

But does true synchronicity exist between the men? While Veronique is hit by an unidentifiable jolt of melancholy following Veronika's onstage collapse during a sold-out concert, it's only speculation as to how Matthew would react, presuming there's a communique between both strangers, after Aldous gives Aaron a shot of adrenaline to stave off a drug overdose.