Catching up on 2010: June - 'Get HIm To The Greek'

This movie is exactly as advertised, it doesn't pretend to be something that it's not. Plain and simple, it's a story about sex, drugs and Rock n' Roll. The vessel used to present the story is an international roller coaster ride where music exec Aaron Green (Jonah Hill) needs to get famous rock star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) from London to Los Angeles for a show or fear losing his job. Their trip takes them through all the expected locations such as London, NYC, Vegas and LA. Snow encounters his estranged father, Green deals with having a 3-some with Snow and his girlfriend, Sean 'Puffy' Combs gets all hopped on drugs and lights a hotel suite on fire... you know, the usual. As I said, nothing you don't expect... there's an exorbitant amount of drug encounters, foul language and sexual... well I can't even really call them innuendos because they're pretty blatant. All this to say it's pretty over the top.

The movie is a spin-off of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and one of the frustrating things I found (if you've seen FSM) is that Jonah Hill is playing a completely different character. According to an interview, it's because the average person can relate more to an average joe trying to make it in the music business rather than the creepy stalkerish character he played in FSM. So really, what you're saying Jonah is that you're trying to make this film connect with our deepest need to succeed? FAIL... Just be honest and say you guys didn't like that character, that this guy is funnier. Because frankly any deeper connection or believability is lost with the ludicrous rock star lifestyle that's being showcased. And to go back to it, when was the last successful spin-off of any sort of TV show/movie??? Actually, maybe that's a good question for you to comment on...see below.

Don't get me wrong, I still laughed more than a few times throughout the film. And heck, the story is pretty simple and sound. And for that matter, Russell Brand actually deserves recognition, however inappropriate his character might have been, because not once did I catch myself thinking I was watching Russell Brand, he really sold the part of a British rock sensation. But sometimes you can have all the makings of a well done movie and still come up short. It was good all around, but never really gave itself a chance to be great.  It's Judd Apatow-ness made it funny, but nothing special. If you can't handle language, sex jokes, drugs or anything of the like you should probably steer clear. If you like Judd Apatow, then you ought to enjoy it.

(I'm going to write what each category is out of in parentheses, for your sakes... thanks for the suggestion JG, keep em' coming)

Story (10) - 5.5
Comedy (10) - 7.5
Characters (5) - 2.5
Believability (5) - 2.5
Filmmaking (10) - 4.5
Enjoyment (10) - 7

Get Him To The Greek = 2.95 out of 5 yukes

Question of the Day: When was the last time a spin-off (not a sequel) came out that was actually good? I have two to start the discussion... Frasier from Cheers, and The Colbert Report from The Daily Show. Any others?

... you just got yuked!
CU