It's interesting that many critics hate movie sequels, yet will watch TV series that are essentially the same thing, albeit in shorter running times but with many more installments. While such shows obviously then don't really have sequels (aside from bad ideas such as "After M*A*S*H"), they often (especially nowadays) beget movie adaptations, as well as spin-offs. Just think about all of the Law & Order and CSI shows out there.
Before them, however, such spin-offs would revolve around supporting characters that audiences enjoyed, such as Mork and Laverne & Shirley from "Happy Days," the Jeffersons and Maude from "All in the Family," and Rhoda and Lou Grant from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." Considering that many a supporting character in any number of movies often steals the spotlight from the headliners, it's somewhat surprising there aren't more movie spin-offs. Granted, it's a riskier proposition to give up the name recognition and brand familiarity, but at least there's the chance of taking some of the material and doing something interesting with it rather than take the recycle route must sequels embark on.
Thus, I'm happy to report that rather than have to sit through "Forgetting Sarah Marshall II," "Forgetting Sarah Marshall Again" or "Remembering Sarah Marshall," we're instead being offered "Get Him to the Greek." Don't get me wrong, as I liked the original "FSM," the 2008 comedy from the Judd Apatow comedy factory where one of the featured scene stealers was Russell Brand playing a carefree and uninhibited rocker named Aldous Snow. He's the person being referenced in the new title, with the destination being a concert venue to which a young record label employee must get him in a set number of days.
Although not as consistently strong as its predecessor and losing a significant amount of steam near the end as it goes touchy-feely, this pic offers plenty of laughs, most of them extremely adult and risqué in nature as was the case the first time around. It's also something of a flip-side companion piece to Cameron Crowe's "Almost Famous" where a young character sees, experiences and eventually develops a tainted view about the world of sex, drugs and their common element, rock 'n roll.
Here, Jonah Hill -- also from the first film, but playing a different character this time around -- is the naïf thrust into the decadent world (with "thrust" being the appropriate word based on what awaits him) while accompanying the washed up rocker for his comeback performance. Boiled down to its essence, the flick -- penned by Nicholas Stoller who also directs here as he did with the last film -- is simply a combination of the old "odd couple" comedy pairing and the standard road trip scenario.
Accordingly, young Aaron Green must contend with Aldous Snow's outrageous behavior, lack of adherence to their tight travel schedule, and various sordid and impromptu activities that pop up or present themselves along the way. All of that puts the young man at odds with his boss (a fairly funny Sean Combs, a.k.a. P. Diddy) and threatens his relationship with his live-in girlfriend (the always terrific Elisabeth Moss, whose presence is simply captivating without much apparent effort), while the rocker yearns to get back with his ex (Rose Byrne, mainly relegated to appearing in several quite ribald music videos).
Although that and other such material often pushes the comedy envelope to the breaking point of good taste and/or common acceptance, and the overall scenario as well as small comedic gems aren't as clever or numerous as in the first film, I have to admit I haven't laughed so hard (at various times, not throughout the entire 110-some minute runtime) in a movie all year. Much of that stems not only from the outrageousness of the material, but also the way in which Brand and Hill play it up as well as off each other.
Like other Apatow influenced movies, there are little bits of charm, personalization and reality thrown into the mix to help temper the outlandish material. While that might not be quite to the level of what occurred in the previous film or especially "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" in getting us to care for and sympathize with the protagonist, it does its job well enough (although the thickness of it at the end nearly smothers all of the surrounding comedy).
Not a comedy classic by any means and unlikely to create its own spin-off, "Get Him to the Greek" nonetheless offers some hearty laughs. That is, as long as you don't mind the decidedly adult, risqué and outrageous material offered in the name of comedy. It rates as a 5.5 out of 10.
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