Get Him to the Greek - Blu-ray Review

Details: By Loron Hays; 02 June 2010

Get Him to the Greek

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There is a key scene in Nicholas Stoller’s Get Him to the Greek which is its defining moment: Russell Brand and Jonah Hill manically run – in slow-motion - from an angry Sean Combs and the joyous space rocks of T.Rex blasts through the speakers completely elevating the persona of Brand's rock to Hill's roll. The look of absolute joy stretched across Brand’s skeletonized face against the pure, unadulterated look of fear that has paralyzed Hill’s expression is the unforgettable territory of Stoller and Jason Segel’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall spin-off. No doubt about it, Get Him to the Greek is an absolute rock’n’roll masterpiece of anarchy, mayhem, and heart.

Reprising his role as chaotic rock star Aldous Snow, Brand takes the once-sober character to hell and back as he wrestles with his own addictions and desires while trying to climb back into the limelight of rock stardom thanks to a 10-year anniversary concert at Los Angeles’ Greek Theatre. Playing an intern for Pinnacle Records, Hill (as Aaron Greenberg) is assigned to make sure Brand gets to the Greek without destroying everything around him in the process. Co-starring Elisabeth Moss from Mad Men, Rose Byrne, and Colm Meaney, Greek bursts with operatic energy and dips into some unexpected sentimental territory. With a surprising amount of cameos and familiar faces, Get Him to the Greek manages to recapture the magic and charm of Segel’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall without being a retread of previous material.

Without spoiling too much of the on-screen anarchy, know this: Brand is a comedic genius. One would never have guessed – from his spaced-out performance in Forgetting Sarah Marshall – that Aldous Snow is as real and as layered as the earth’s crust; it is a surprising twisting and churning of events that leads to the true source of Snow’s character and only Brand can take us there. Hill, playing an entirely different character than he did in Marshall, brings out the comedic soul of the reactionary common man faced with the obscenities and absurdities of Snow. If ever there was a mantle for best John Candy performance in a motion picture, Jonah Hill – regardless of comparisons in his size – deserves it with his performance here. There are some really touching moments between the two opposites that serve to recall the highs of John Hughes’ Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

Get Him to the Greek might be gross-out, drunken barroom humor to the max on par with The Hangover and Hot Tub Time Machine, but what it isn’t is an epic failure. This is comedy that never bores. The Apatow produced spin-off is simply sharp comedy that stabs deep into the heart of its audience. With its comedic tone spinning from frantic to episodic in nature, what sneakily unspools is a narrative concerning relationships between men and women and the faith that ties them together. With fascinating performances from Brand and Hill and Combs, this is one rocking comedy that swaggers enough to be bigger than its predecessor.

Component Grades
Movie		Blu-ray Disc


Blu-ray Experience

Blu-ray Details:

Available on Blu-ray - September 28, 2010
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; French: DTS 5.1; Spanish: DTS 5.1
Discs: 50GB Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD); Digital copy (on disc); Digital copy PSP (on disc); BD-Live; Mobile features

Get Him to the Greek is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (1.85:1). There are two cuts of the film: the theatrical version and the unrated cut. Both versions pop with a cool crispness to the color and a lossless soundtrack that preserves the rock ‘n’ roll nature of the film.

Supplements:

Commentaries:

There is a pretty funny commentary with director Stoller, producer Rodney Rothman, and actors, Brand, Byrne, Hill, and Moss. If you are a fan, then this is worth your time.

Featurettes:

Get Him to the Greek is loaded with extra “meat” concerning the making of the movie, the stories behind some of the music in the film, and – as a bonus – as in-character documentary about one of the videos featured in the movie. It also has some pretty funny material that displays just how much fun everyone had while making the film.