In 2008, the film Forgetting Sarah Marshall introduced audiences to rock god Aldous Snow, the front man of multi-platinum selling band Infant Sorrow played by British comedian Russell Brand. A reformed drug-addict and ladies’ man, Snow was one of the bright spots of the off-beat romantic comedy. Fast-forward two years later and to Get Him to the Greek, the Sarah Marshall spin-off that stars Brand back in the role of Snow.

 

Those of you who did not watch Forgetting Sarah Marshall need not worry, the film’s opening offers a recap on who Aldous Snow is and what he’s all about. There is only a slight connection to Sarah Marshall in the form of a slight, and funny, cameo. Jonah Hill, who played an obsessed Aldous Snow fan in Sarah Marshall, returns with Brand. Hill plays a new role in the comedy as record company employee Aaron Green. Brand’s character, which worked well as a supporting character in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, still works in Greek, with Brand showing off his timing and wit as he plays a supped-up version of himself. Hill, shelving the sarcastic comebacks and vulgar language he’s become known for, still comes off as Jonah Hill. Even as you watch him babysit Snow and deal with the relationship problems in his life, you’re not really sympathetic with his cause or really care about his problems.

 

 

 

In the supporting cast, Australian actress Rose Byrnes plays Jackie Q, a pop star and Brand’s equally hard partying ex-girlfriend. Elisabeth Moss of Mad Men fame plays Hill’s live-in girlfriend. British actor Colm Meany plays Brand’s bitter father, and Sean “P. Diddy” Combs rounds out the cast as Hill’s eccentric boss. Byrnes and Moss play their parts well, with both of them getting moments as they talk to their respective love interests. Meany does an affable job, but Combs manages to steal the scenes from Hill and Brand whenever he’s alongside them.

 

The premise of Greek is that Green is tasked with the job of getting Snow from London to the Greek Theater in LA in 72 hours for his comeback concert. The expected hi-jinx and hard partying, and habitual drug abuse ensues as Hill goes about performing his task to get Snow to the Greek in time. Some of the jokes in the movie we’ve seen elsewhere, but they still manage to produce laughs. The best parts are the jabs at the entertainment industry machine, and how celebrities are treated differently. While the majority of the movie is comedy, the last half hour takes on a more serious tone as it examines Snow’s life and comes to the oft-repeated conclusion that rock stars are lonely people.

 

 

 

While Get Him to the Greek doesn’t exactly do anything new for the comedy genre, but it’s still a solid comedy that provides laughs and a good time.