Get Him To The Greek (2010) ***1/2

Every once in awhile a movie spawns something that has been called an equel. It’s not a direct sequel, but is slightly connected to another film before it. Not like the off spring, but a cousin. Get Him To The Greek is one of those equels that follows the further exploits of rock front man Aldous Snow (Russell Brand).

When we last saw Aldous he was on the wagon, clean as a newborns bottom. As Get Him To The Greek opens he has tumbled into the gutter with a career that has gone to the toilet. He’s going nowhere. Meanwhile in L.A. a young record executive named Aaron (Jonah Hill) comes up with the idea of having Aldous play the Greek Theater on the tenth anniversary of what apparently was a legendary concert. It’s up to Aaron to get the self destructing rock star to the concert, with a stop over in New York for an appearance on the Today show. The question isn’t whether Aldous will actually play the show but will Aaron survive the rock n’ roll lifestyle of Aldous Snow.

Get Him To The Greek also follows in the tradition of Sarah Marshall by being a raunchy, vulgar laugh fest that still has a little bit of a heart inside of it. When walking into the theater I expected to see a road trip movie where two opposites would find that they have more in common than they thought, hugs, we all feel good, the end. Get Him To The Greek really isn’t like that cliché. True, both characters learn from each other and, as I said, the film does have a heart under all that raunch but it doesn’t feel like a lovefest. There’s a subtle balance between being an adult oriented comedy and a clichéd buddy film. Brand is perfectly cast as a doped up rock star, giving a presence that is almost a mixture between Mick Jagger and Axel Rose. The guy has a stage presence even when not on stage. Hill basically plays a timid version of the character he’s perfected in previous films. Not to play the weight card, but he seems to have a screen persona that’s a cross between John Candy and Chris Farley- laid back at times, yet off his damn rocker when he needs to be. The real surprise was P. Diddy who plays Aaron’s boss Sergio. He seems to get all the best lines with the most memorable being the end of a diatribe about Aldous drug abuse and the fact that British rock stars live forever he screams “Ozzy Osbourne’s going to outlive Miley Cyrus!”

Once again Nicholas Stoller has delivered a comedy that is actually funny. Those are hard to come by and we tend to get only one a year anymore (unless you like romantic comedies, which seem to be a dime a dozen). Get Him To The Greek isn’t quite as funny as The Hangover, but it’s still a riot to watch with a few shocks and surprises along the way.