Review: Get Him to the Greek

I made a prediction a few years ago that Russell Brand would successfully make the jump to feature films and surprise a lot of people. The Essex born Hellraiser isn't just a hairdo. He is a legitimate entertainer and a very intelligent, talented performer. And while his performance in Get Him to the Greek isn't going to have his critics singing from the rooftops it is a giant leap in the right direction.

Brand reprises his role as Aldous Snow, the last of the great British rockstars. Snow was introduced in the not terrible Forgetting Sarah Marshall, where he stole every scene that Paul Rudd hadn't already walked off with. The difference here is that that Aldous was seven years sober. This Aldous is not, having leapt spectacularly off the wagon. In an attempt to get him back on track, record label intern Aaron Green, played by Jonah Hill, is given the unenviable task of getting Snow from London to LA in 72 hours to play what could be a career reviving gig.

As far as premises go it's not the most complex, in fact the plot is nothing more than an excuse to capitalise on the chemistry found between Brand and Hill in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Get Him to the Greek in concept is just a road movie tying a handful of sketches together, but while it's lite on plot what it does, it does very well. One of the problems some of the Apatow films have had (Sarah Marshall included) is the tendency to cram the gags into the beginning of the film and spend the last act getting a bit po faced. Get Him to the Greek keeps things balanced, the jokes come thick and fast from start to end but it weaves a touching (if very familiar) tale of redemption throughout.

Jonah Hill surprised me here, he has made his name playing vulgar, obnoxious losers in the past, but Aaron is a far sweeter character than we have seen from him. What starts as the opportunity of a lifetime slowly descends into a nightmare of drugs and debauchery as Aaron has to get this maniac to the Greek theatre while keeping him completely placated. Hill does a fine job portraying the normal, sweet natured guy who gradually gets driven mad by the lunacy surrounding him. He wisely downplays Aaron from the start making his eventual freakout that much funnier.

Like I said, Brand is brilliant in this, and while it may seem like stunt casting it really isn't. The wacky, out of control rock star is a a tired cliché but Brand adds another layer to the character and brings a level of honesty to Snow that I really don't think anyone else could have. Brand has always been very honest and open regarding his past, cheerfully recounting the dark places his addictions took him and he gamely puts that all out there to flesh out Snow. A particular scene where Snow finds himself without his heroin suddenly takes a very dark, quite frightening turn. It's a credit to Brand that he can make Snow a pretty unpleasant individual but still have you rooting for him at the end. It helps that he is hysterical, he's a natural comic performer and the interplay between himself and Hill provides some serious laughs.

But you knew Jonah Hill and Russell Brand were funny, right? Did you also know that Sean "P Diddy" Combs is funny? As in, absolutely the funniest performance of the year, funny? No you didn't. Trumping Tom Cruise's Les Grossman in the "What the hell am I watching?" category. Combs picks up the film, slips it into his jacket and sneaks out of the room. Even without the surprise element it's a masterclass in comic performance. Whether it was a happy accident or inspired casting is unclear but it works, You'd swear he'd been doing this for years, he's a natural. Combs delivers the most ludicrous dialogue completely straight faced. He's absolutely the film's secret weapon and if there is any justice will now get his own spinoff. Two please.

Get Him to the Greek is a delight. It's not a comedy for the ages (a subplot involving Aaron's girlfriend doesn't really go anywhere or have any emotional payoff), but it offers plenty of belly laughs, isn't afraid to get a bit dark and, most importantly, does both at the same time.