Get Him to the Greek — movie review + haikus
Posted on June 16, 2010 by Kris Nelson
Get Him to the Greek
Friendship’s no laughing matter
despite furry walls
Russell Brand’s Rocker
though at first off his rocker
Forlorn, scorned, reborn!
Jonah Hill has proved
he can play nice, kind even
subtle in chaos
Rose Byrne, plain Jane mouse
Turns out she can illustrate
quite the ditzy louse
Puffy, Puff Daddy
Sean Combs, Ciroc Obama
P. Diddy, Diddy
Get Him to the Greek was another Summer flick that was also better in trailer form than feature-length. And when I first viewed the trailer, I thought Aldous Snow was already past his prime, released too late… but the proletariat can still surprise. I wanted to see it because I actually do care about what sweetie-pie Jason Segel does, but he didn’t write it.
I didn’t think Get Him to the Greek was as gut-busting hilarious as everyone else proclaimed, but it had its moments. But I guess I wasn’t as high as some promoters. Correction, not as high, not high. Not. High.
Russell Brand can channel rocker, of course, but he exudes a softer side as well, a true asset to this film. He even made the audience jump when he goes gorilla over some spilt heroin. Hats off to Jonah Hill, who I thought pigeon-holed himself as the sarcastic buddy you don’t want to be pals with. Boy, did he shatter that one. And I’m sure we’ll be seeing (I’m never sure if this guy is joking or not) Sean “Ciroc Obama” Combs in future flicks. Entertaining > Peeing > Sex for Mr. Combs, I’d say. Good for them.
I wanted more Aziz Ansari, but that was cut — the DVD ought to be fat considering how much they cut out. Colm Meaney is a step up from literal comedy, but he made a valiant effort. He’s often used for generation-gap effect. The Lars Ulrich Napster joke was punchy, but I wonder if the target audience is too young to remember Napster? Can yappy Lars really laugh at himself?
People keep talking about Get Him to the Greek as a comedy, but I witnessed tragedy. The references to Michael Jackson 
(“supporting” a celebrity/client with glib fibs, plying them with hardcore sedatives, riding the cash cow rather than assisting a friend) must not have been coincidental. Remorse abound over failed relationships. The price of fame: having everything and nothing at all. Sometimes the truth hurts, but real friends will always, always tell you the truth. Get Him to the Greek wove a tale of camaraderie and personal triumph amidst a whirlwind (and sometimes just a snoozy puddle) of drugs and sex and vomit.
Bottom Line: this was primarily written for frat boys and pot heads with a heart. There’s some joke about poor Elisabeth Moss’ character being on her period as an excuse for being “unreasonable”. I would be offended if didn’t see the truth in it, hisss, haha. I say see Get Him to the Greek if only to support the cast comprised of people who seem pretty sweet irl.
TRIVIA TIME: Emily Blunt was slated for the Jackie Q role, but had to drop out and it eventually went to unlikely Rose Byrne.
** BONUS(?) — Pee Diddy
About the Author
Kris Nelson says these directors/screenwriters rarely disappoint: Peter Greenaway, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Danny Boyle, Gus van Sant, Gregg Araki. Kris claims that Jake Gyllenhaal, Cillian Murphy, Desmond Harrington, Casey Affleck are much more than pretty faces.
