Get Him to the Greek

by Molly Eichel

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Published: Jun 1, 2010

GOING GREEK: Rock star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand, left) forms an unexpected bond with music exec Aaron (Jonah Hill) in Nicholas Stoller's film.

[ CITY PAPER GRADE: B- ]

In Forgetting Sarah Marshall, rookie director Nicholas Stoller (with writer and star Jason Segel) did the Apatow brand justice by marrying dick jokes and gross-outs with real human emotion. For his second at-bat, Stoller revives Marshall's decadent rock star, Aldous Snow (Russell Brand), and its hearts-and-farts formula — but this time goes down swinging. Joining Brand is fellow Marshall alum Jonah Hill, who does not reprise his role as the fanboy hotel employee, but instead takes on Aaron Green, a junior music exec who comes up with the idea for Aldous to reclaim his former glory by re-creating a legendary concert at the titular Greek Theater. But the once-sober Aldous is in dire straights: His main squeeze — Jackie Q (Rose Byrne), who sings thinly veiled songs about the pleasure of her asshole — left him; his last album, African Child, was called the worst thing to happen to the continent right behind war and famine; and he's fallen hard off the wagon. It's Aaron's duty to ferry the reeling Aldous from London to L.A. for the big show. Former addict Brand is particularly effective when Aldous is at his lowest, explaining drug dependency in graphic terms. But Greek falls apart when it should be at its emotional height, especially without a likable center like Segel to keep things grounded. That Stoller tried to turn a stupid-but-fun road movie into something more is valiant, but Greek hits its mark when it keeps ambitions low, including a parade of cameos (Paul Krugman!). While the film allows Brand to show that he's more than the guy who kisses The Girl Who Kissed A Girl, and Hill to take off his cynical bastard cap, the real breakout star is Diddy. As Aaron's music mogul boss, Diddy goes off the rails. Unlike Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder, Diddy's an integral part of Greek, letting go of all inhibitions and saying things like "You've got to mind-fuck them ... I'm mind-fucking you right now. Do you feel my dick going into your mind?" all without cracking a smile.

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