There are a lot of illegal drugs in Get Him to the Greek, and the movie itself sort of works like one. It’s tempting, mood-altering and the laughs are addictive. It’s also, in its own way, dangerous: I can’t remember another comedy that was this supportive of serious substance abuse. Jonah Hill (Superbad) ups the charm factor as Aaron Green, a genial record-label gopher who is sent to chaperone “the most self-destructive man in rock and roll” (Russell Brand) from London to a concert in Los Angeles. Crude and often hilarious debauchery ensues – the dumbstruck Hill and the oily Brand make a grand team – culminating in a frighteningly logical speech from Brand about how drug addiction at least simplifies all of your troubles: you only care about getting more drugs. So credit the movie with honesty, at least until its false ending, a hasty “just say no” postscript that is even less convincing than Nancy Reagan. If it isn’t already, Get Him to the Greek should be slang for helping an addict score. From director Nicholas Stoller, who first gave us the Brand character in Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
