Get Him to the Greek

Being a long way from being a Russell Brand fan, I approached this with some trepidation. (It wasn't first on my choice of films to see, but I was outvoted this time). Its another comedy from the all conquering Judd Apatow production team. This is a spin-off from the aptly forgettable but still entertaining Forgetting Sarah Marshall with Brand reprising his role as drug and booze soaked rock star Aldous Snow and Jonah Hill as the hapless record company exec who has to get him from London to LA for a big concert.

Well that's enough of the plot, which is utterly predictable, even from that one sentance summary. Of the surprises - it wasn't as bad as I expected and there were a few laughs (most of them courtesy of Sean Coombs, who is by far and away the best thing in this). Also, Brand wasn't the worst thing in this - that prize goes to Hill, an actor who seems to be getting less likeable, funny or watchable with every movie he makes. In fact the movie is so generally bad, that Brand within it seems quite reasonable by comparison.

Most Apatow produced movies have a few moments that strain the bounds of taste and decency and the odd moment that make you cringe and not in a good way, but they generally balance this out with a lot of genuine laughs and a real tender heart underneath the humour. In Get Him to the Greek the cringes outweigh the laughs by a huge ratio and the heart is totally absent. There isn't a single likeable character in the whole ensemble.

Overall - 4.5/10 There are a few laughs, but having to sit through the rest of the film is too high a price to pay for them.