REVIEW: ‘Get Him To The Greek’

Who doesn’t want to party like a rock star?

When I met the lead singer of my favorite band, he wore rubber gloves so he didn’t have to actually touch his fans.

The experience for Aaron Green (Jonah Hill) in “Get Him to the Greek” is quite different.  There are actually times you wish he’d wear rubber gloves to protect himself from his idol.  Green is a lowly record company employee trying to find a “game changer” to revitalize the dying music industry.  He proposes a 10^th anniversary concert by his favorite singer, Aldous Snow (Russell Brand).  His boss, Sergio Roma (Sean “Puff Daddy/P Diddy” Combs—using this role as a chance to lash out at the music industry, perhaps), books the concert, and gives Green the task of getting Snow from London to the LA concert.

Hilarity ensues, of course, as it has in every road trip movie from “Borat” to “Almost Famous” (there’s an obvious “I am a golden god” moment in this film as well—you can never have too many pretend-rock-star-paying-filmic-tribute-to-Robert-Plant moments) to, well, “Road Trip.”

Snow will not go gently to that good concert – after a string of successes and sober living he released an album, “African Child” (trying to be Bono, apparently), that the film belittles continuously, at one point calling it “the worst thing to happen to Africa since Apartheid.”  Of course, what do you expect from a rock star trying to be “an African white Christ from space?”  After the colossal failure, Snow’s girlfriend, bored with the sober life, leaves him, and he goes into a drunken drugged stupor for the next several years.

At this point, Green arrives.  His boss has given him tips on how to deal with over-indulged rock stars, but he is completely unprepared for the experience… and he’s made even more vulnerable by the fact his own girlfriend has just left him.

The rest of the film is exactly what you expect it to be: a lot of partying, drinking, sex, drugs, and rock and roll.  Green comes face to face with rock and roll stardom and what it’s like to be surrounded by the beautiful people, including my favorite cameo, Tom Felton – who apparently doesn’t appreciate “Harry Potter” jokes while he’s at the bar.

There’s also an incredible amount of vomit in this film.  If you are not a big fan of vomit, vomiting, or things that have been vomited, be prepared to spend a great deal of your time covering your eyes.

The film is a joy when it’s enjoying itself.  However, there are fractured relationships throughout the film: Snow and his ex-girlfriend/mother of his child, Green and his girlfriend, Snow and his father.  Potential spoiler:  Only one of these relationships will end with a happy reconciliation, and it may or may not be the one you’re cheering for, although it’s likely the one you’ll expect.  But each of the characters will learn and grow and figure out who he/she is.  (sigh)  Which, as positive as it sounds, actually brings the film down.  More partying and Sean Combs, please.

Between the pop culture cameos and references to the first go-round with Aldous Snow in “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” the inside jokes may be another pitfall for this film; which is a celebrity culture goldmine targeted at a very specific audience.  While the entire opening is a take-off on reality TV, and there are plenty of race jokes and Brit jokes everyone can understand, there were definitely times I found I was the only one laughing at a particular joke.

At any rate, “Get Him to the Greek” is a ridiculously fun good time.  Bring a friend, or your favorite rock star.