The golden age of comedy — this new golden age, which will only be apparent years from now, when it’s over — continues with the release of “ Get Him to the Greek ,” which is so comically fertile and yet so grounded in the reality of its characters that it’s really a kind of Marvel. There is a quick and simple litmus test to tell whether or not you’ll enjoy Get Him to the Greek. If you found Aldous Snow , Russell Brand ’s caricature of a rock star, to be one of the funnier elements of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, then you will no doubt have a riot with the increased raunchiness his character once again brings to the screen for director Nicholas Stoller . If, for whatever reason, you find Brand’s larger-than-life presence to be as insufferable as the real rock stars he’s lampooning, chances are good his spin-off film will do little to convince you there’s more to him than just an outrageous persona. Get Him to the Greek is exactly what the trailers advertise: Aldous Snow turned to 11…read more [ Cinematical ] Russell Brand and (Aldous Snow) in Get Him To The Greek Judd Apatow — the current king of movie comedy — took a risk last summer with the bloated and terribly self-involved “Funny People.” The Adam Sandler film took a nose dive at the box office — a fate it deserved. But this summer, the creator of such crowd-pleasers as “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up” rebounds mightily with “Get Him to the Greek,” one of the funniest, raunchiest and edgiest comedies in years. The outrageous “Greek” works better than “Funny People” at least in part because Apatow, who tends to make films that meander too much, hands over writing and directing duties to a protege — “Forgetting Sarah Marshall’s” Nicholas Stoller. Instead, Apatow produces “Greek,” just as he did with the terrific teen comedy “Superbad.”…read more [ MercuryNews ] Married-rich radical M.I.A. might be having press problems these days, but they’re nothing compared with the pretensions of fictional rocker Aldous Snow (squirmy, effortlessly charming Brand). Get Him to the Greek opens with a devastatingly funny parody—a video for Snow’s self-serious “African Child,” described by shocked music critics as the worst thing to happen to the continent since apartheid. Seven years of infamy lead the debauched frontman to agree to a comeback concert, the brainstorm of superfan label-rep Aaron (Hill). After sparring with his workaholic girlfriend (Mad Men’s Moss, an unlikely partner), Aaron is on his way to London to shepherd Snow to the L.A. concert, scheduled to occur in three days…read more [ TimeOut NewYork ] Russell Brand stars as Aldous Snow and Jonah Hill stars as Aaron Greenberg in Get Him to the Greek The movie is funny in the way of “The Hangover” about what trouble lads can get into when their senses are whirling. Unlike some depictions of binges, it doesn’t shortchange vomit. The adventures of Aldous and Aaron remind me of a friend I used to meet on Saturday mornings for what we called Drunch. “Sometimes,” she said, “it can be really exhausting having a good time.” Aaron, who has been threatened with flaying if he doesn’t deliver Aldous on time, panics when he can’t get him to Heathrow for the right flight, can’t get him to “Today” on time, can’t get him to the sound check at the Greek, and very nearly can’t get him to the Greek. Aldous for the most part floats benevolently above these small misunderstandings. When it comes to himself, he’s a very understanding man…read more [ Roger Ebert ] The beauty of the film is that, having put in place a solid comic structure, Stoller keeps coming up with surefire comic situations. And so when young, straight-arrow Aaron (Jonah Hill) finds himself in a limousine heading for the “Today” show with a rock star who absolutely must not arrive drunk or stoned, what does he do when the rock star whips out drugs and alcohol? Aaron hogs the drugs and drinks all the alcohol and arrives on the set with vomit all over his own jacket. And on and on, for 109 minutes, just one absurd, uncomfortable, hysterical situation after another…read more [ SFGate ] Colm Meane stars as Jonathan Snow and Russell Brand stars as Aldous Snow in Get Him to the Greek Get Him to the Greek is a transcontinental substance-filled race against time. When the closing credits rolled, I was absolutely exhausted. This was not due to a cinematic marvel of transference, it was because I’d been laughing, heavily, for one hundred and nine straight minutes.Wisely giving “Aldous Snow,” the best thing about his so-so Forgetting Sarah Marshall the spotlight, Nicholas Stoller’s Get Him to the Greek delivers what’s advertised – Russell Brand being a madman and Jonah Hill being an oaf – and sets them running on a plot-light ride through ridiculous, environment-driven set pieces. While at heart a simple road picture taken straight from the Hope and Crosby playbook, Greek bends over backward to stuff as much dazzle in each scene…read more [ UGO ] The picture is much better when it sticks to being a satire of the music industry. That’s when comedian Brand is at his most inspired. His band may be called Infant Sorrow (a bookish nod to William Blake), but the decadent Aldous Snow is a wicked parody of geezer rock. Looking like the bastard child of Keith Moon and Jimmy Page, he prances about the stage with the prissiness of Mick Jagger, flashing wild-man eyes that could outstare Iggy Pop. His Today Show number, The Clap, even sounds like a send-up of the Stones at their dirtiest. (Rock vet Lyle Workman provided the film’s witty music.) Brand also brings to the character his own double-edged comedic persona – part crude, part genteel, with an irresistible blend of devilry and disarming innocence…read more [ CBS News ] Russell Brand stars as Aldous Snow and Rose Byrne stars as Jackie Q in Get Him to the Greek Get Him to the Greek is filled with gags like that, jokes so lame and ludicrous they somehow circle ‘round back to being funny. It doesn’t hurt that the movie is dotted with an assortment of lively second- and third bananas, Combs among them. (He has the megalomaniacal record-industry exec thing down cold.) Rose Byrne, as Snow’s ditzy, kittenish ex, Jackie Q., also has a few deliciously zonked-out scenes, including a faux rock video that shows her romping around in a tiny, flouncy French milkmaid costume. Byrne, in addition to being a good sport, has marvelous comic timing: At one point she blinks out at us from behind a set of enormous feather eyelashes, fluttering her lids as if it were the most normal thing in the world to have Cleopatra’s fans affixed to your lashline…read more [ Movie Line ] Get Him to the Greek has all the hallmarks of an Apatow project. It’s raunchy, kinda sweet and filled with snarky pop culture references. Not surprisingly the third act has some structural issues, but while it’s a tad long it isn’t bloated or overly ambitious à la Funny People. It strikes an entertaining balance between the predictable and freewheeling, between being conventional and outrageous. Personally, I could do without all the vomit, but, then again, physical discomfort is essential to comedy. And at least now I know that furry walls can calm my anxiety…read more [ BoxOfficeMagazine ] Get Him to the Greek Video Review Share this on Blinklist Share this on del.icio.us Digg this! Post this on Diigo Share this on Reddit Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon Share this on Technorati Share this on Mixx Tweet This! Subscribe to the comments for this post? Add this to Mister Wong Add this to Izeby Submit this to Twittley Save this to Xerpi Submit this to Netvibes Blend this! Engage with this article! Add to a lense on Squidoo
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