Film: Get Him to the Greek
Cast includes: Jonah Hill (Cyrus), Russell Brand (Forgetting Sara Marshall), Rose Byrne (I Captured the Castle), Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combs, Elizabeth Moss (Mad Men)
Director: Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sara Marshall)
Producer: Judd Apatow (Funny People)
Genre: Irreverent/Gross-out Comedy (2010)
In brief: Aldous Snow’s career took a turn for the worse after his last CD, African Child. One critic called African Child the worst thing to happen to Africa since famine. Even by the standards of self-destructive, British bad-boy rock musicians, this CD was in seriously bad taste. Since then Aldous’s life and career have been spiraling out of control. Meanwhile in LA, Sergio’s record company is floundering… or as Sergio puts it, “without a game changer, we’re fucked.” At a staff meeting, he demands ideas from his team. The only one who offers a plausible suggestion… and it’s pretty lame… is Aaron. He’s a long-time fan of Aldous Snow… with the exception of African Child, of course… and he thinks it would be awesome for Aldous to do a 10th anniversary performance at the Greek in LA.
When Sergio finally decides it’s the best idea he’s got, he puts the task on Aaron to get Aldous to the Greek. It’s no big deal… all Aaron has to do is go to London, get Aldous on a plane to New York for an appearance on the Today Show, and then get him to LA for the performance at the Greek. Before sending Aaron off, Sergio gives Aaron some lessons on “mind fucking.” As Aaron is about to leave, he breaks up… sort of… with his live-in girlfriend. It’s not an auspicious beginning. When Aaron meets up with Aldous, that’s when “shit gets really fucked up”… going from bad to worse… to worse… to worse… and so on… with the humor getting raunchier and grosser at every turn.
If you object to gross-out humor, you’ll definitely want to miss this one. On the other hand, there are a lot of funny bits in the movie. Judd Apatow and company seem to have just about cornered the market on this brand of humor… with gags that go from he-he humor to HA-HA humor to oh-my-God-I-don’t-believe-they-just-did-that humor. Underneath it all… assuming you’re not totally disgusted with it all… the characters start to grow on you… although the upchuck gags test the limits of our compassion. About the movie its self, it’s my observation that this movie pretty much covers gross-out humor from asshole to zits. I can’t help wondering what Apatow and company might do for their next movie.
3 popped kernels
Popped kernels for gross-out fun, good script, and characters we can care about
Popcorn Profile
Rated: R
Primary Audience: Young adults
Gender Appeal: Macho
Distribution: Mainstream wide release
Mood: Jubilant
Tempo: Pure adrenalin rush
Visual Style: Nicely varnished realism
Character Development: Engaging
Language: Rude & crude
Social Significance: Pure entertainment
