Get Him to the Greek

Get Him to the Greek
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Nicholas Stoller
Written by	Nicholas Stoller Jason Segel (characters)
Produced by	Judd Apatow Nicholas Stoller David Bushell Rodney Rothman Jason Segel
Starring	Jonah Hill Russell Brand Elisabeth Moss Rose Byrne Sean "Diddy" Combs Colm Meaney
Cinematography	Robert D. Yeoman
Edited by	William Kerr Michael Sale
Music by	Lyle Workman
Production companies	Relativity Media Spyglass Entertainment Apatow Productions
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	June 4, 2010 (2010-06-04)
Running time	109 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$40 million
Box office	$24,502,290

Get Him to the Greek is a 2010 American comedy film written and directed by Nicholas Stoller and starring Jonah Hill and Russell Brand. The film was released on June 4, 2010. Get Him to the Greek is a spin-off sequel of Stoller's 2008 film Forgetting Sarah Marshall, reuniting director Stoller with stars Hill and Brand. Brand reprises his role as character Aldous Snow from Forgetting Sarah Marshall, while Hill plays an entirely new character. The film also stars Elisabeth Moss, Rose Byrne, and Sean "Diddy" Combs.

Plot

Rock star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) releases an album and an accompanying single about problems in Africa called "African Child." The song and music video are panned and called "the worst thing to happen to Africa since apartheid" by NME. The single ruins Snow's career, and as a result he starts drinking and doing drugs excessively once again. His girlfriend Jackie Q (Rose Byrne), with whom he had a son named Naples, also leaves him, taking custody of Naples.

Aaron Green (Jonah Hill) is a driven, idealistic young college graduate who works as an intern at Pinnacle Records. He lives with his girlfriend Daphne (Elisabeth Moss), a doctor in her internship, but they do not get to see each other often due to her heavy work schedule. Pinnacle Records has lost a lot of money, so the head of the company, Sergio Roma (Sean "Diddy" Combs), asks for ideas. Green proposes to have Snow play at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles for the tenth anniversary of a particularly famous performance there.

Sergio decides Green has a good idea, so he orders him to transport Snow from London, to an interview on the Today Show, then to the concert in Los Angeles. Before he leaves, Green has a fight with Daphne. She was offered a job in Seattle and wants to move there, but Green is hesitant to do so. Green has to leave to catch a flight, and he departs thinking they have broken up. When he arrives at London, he finds Snow is incredibly difficult and unwilling to listen to Green. As a result, they spend a long time out partying, constantly pushing their departure further and further back. Green has been trying to limit Snow's narcotic intake, but is forced to let him do drugs and drink for fear that he won't perform. Because of this, when they finally arrive at the Today Show, barely making the deadline, Green drinks and smokes as much as he can so Snow cannot. Although Snow originally wants to sing "African Child", he forgets the words. Green, in his high and drunk stupor tries to assist him, but Snow simply changes the song. His performance is well accepted, and both Green and Snow feel better about future prospects.

While preparing to fly to Los Angeles, Snow forces Green to smuggle drugs in his rectum. During their travels and time in London and New York, Green learns that Snow has become miserable and lonely, as he misses his son and has not talked to his father in several years. Green shares his relationship troubles, and Snow encourages him to enjoy his time in Los Angeles. Giving advice to Snow, Green suggests he visits Jackie Q and his father and so the two make a stop in Las Vegas the night prior to the show to see Snow's father. Sergio also arrives, wanting to help oversee the final proceedings. Green, on Sergio's orders, leaves to have sex with a girl named Destiny, but she sodomizes him with a large dildo. He tells Snow and his father that he has been raped, so they encourage him to smoke a "Geoffrey", a joint which is filled with many different drugs. Green starts believing he is having a heart attack, but the others are too high to help him. Snow has a fight with his father; Sergio jumps in, and their tussle ends up setting the club on fire. Green begins feeling better, but Snow attempts to help Green with an adrenaline shot to the heart and they run out of the club, chased by Sergio.

Snow and Green are driven to Los Angeles, where Snow visits Jackie Q. She has been sleeping with Lars Ulrich (and is apparently engaged to him), and confesses to Snow that Naples is not actually his biological son. This depresses him even further. During this time, Green returns to his girlfriend and tries to make amends for the sex he has had during their fight. She did not believe they were broken up, leading to more friction. Snow shows up, trying to help, and invites them to a threesome, which Daphne accepts and Green reluctantly goes along with. During their sex, Green becomes distressed, and orders Snow out of his house. Snow has now hit rock bottom, and an hour before the concert prepares to jump from a roof. Green comes to his aid and Snow instead jumps into a pool, but hits his arm on the way down, breaking it. Instead of going to a hospital, Snow does the concert, realizing his fans are more important than he is. Although Green discusses with Sergio that Snow really needs help, the executive's only suggestion is to have Snow pop some more pills; this enabling causes Green to quit in disgust. However, Green sees how happy Snow is performing and lets him continue while he himself goes home and reconciles with his girlfriend. Months later in Seattle (where Green and his girlfriend have moved), a healthier Snow has returned to fame with a single produced by Green based on events from their night in Las Vegas.

Cast

Jonah Hill at a panel for the film in Austin, Texas in May 2010

• Jonah Hill as Aaron Green, a record company intern
• Russell Brand as Aldous Snow, an out of control rock star back on drugs and alcohol
• Elisabeth Moss as Daphne Binks, Aaron's girlfriend
• Rose Byrne as Jackie Q, a scandal-plagued pop star and Aldous' love interest
• Sean "Diddy" Combs as Sergio Roma, a record company executive who assigns Aaron to court Aldous
• Colm Meaney as Jonathan Snow, a leech of a father who only uses Aldous for his personal gain
• Carla Gallo as Destiny, a groupie
• Lino Facioli as Naples Snow, son of Aldous Snow and Jackie Q
• Aziz Ansari as Matty, one of Aaron's co-workers
• Nick Kroll as Kevin, one of Aaron's co-workers
• Kali Hawk as Kali, one of Aaron's co-workers
• Karl Theobald as Aldous Snow's assistant
• Tom Felton as Himself
• Christina Aguilera as Herself
• Pink as Herself
• Kurt Loder as Himself
• Dee Snider as Himself
• Meredith Vieira as Herself
• Mario Lopez as Himself
• Pharrell as Himself
• Alyssa Cooper as Girlband member
• Paul Krugman as Himself
• Lars Ulrich as Himself
• T.J. Miller as Brian, a drug-dealing hotel clerk
• Kristen Schaal as Today Show production assistant
• Kristen Bell as Sarah Marshall
• Rick Schroder as Himself

Production

Development

A week after the release of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Universal Studios announced a new film Get Him to the Greek, reteaming Jonah Hill and Russell Brand with writer/director Nicholas Stoller and producer Judd Apatow. Variety initially announced the project would focus on "fresh-out-of-college insurance adjuster (Hill) who is hired to accompany an out-of-control rock star (Brand) from London to a gig at L.A.'s Greek Theatre." In July 2008, Brand mentioned that he would be reprising his Aldous Snow role from Forgetting Sarah Marshall, in a new film from Apatow in which the character was back on drugs.

In an interview with CHUD.com, Apatow would later reveal that Get Him to the Greek was indeed a spin-off of Forgetting Sarah Marshall with Brand again playing a no-longer-sober Aldous Snow while in a different interview Nicholas Stoller said that Jonah Hill will play a different character named Aaron Green, a young music executive.

At one point, the film's title was changed to Get Me to the Gig and was then reverted to its original title.

Filming

Filming in Cavendish Square, London.

While Russell Brand was backstage at the Paramount studio lot preparing to present the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, he approached Christina Aguilera, Pink, and Katy Perry about filming cameos for Get Him to the Greek.

On April 17, 2009, Brand filmed scenes of him performing as rock star Aldous Snow at his sellout comedy show "Russell Brand: Scandalous", at the O2 arena in London, in front of an audience of 20,000 fans. He performed the songs "Inside Of You" and "I Am Jesus".

Rehearsals began on April 27, 2009 with filming beginning on May 12. The film was shot in New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and London, making it the first Apatow film to film outside America.

On July 25-26, 2009 they filmed at The Today Show in New York City with Meredith Viera interviewing Brand as Aldous Snow, filming also conducted at Letchworth State Park in Western New York. On August 7, 2009 they were spotted filming in Trafalgar Square, London. During the filming Brand was attacked by a passer-by who pushed him into the fountain. The scene involved West Ham United football fans and the duo being chased by a hooligan on a bicycle. On the same day, in the early evening at The Anchor Pub on Bankside, next to the River Thames in scene involving downing pints. From August 12-16 filming took place at Hatfield House, Hertfordshire. On August 18 filming took place in Cavendish Square, London. On September 14-15 filming took place in New York's Meatpacking District. On January 15, 2010 a scene was shot in LA which shows Brand as his character Aldous Snow confronting a paparazzo, throwing him to the ground, urinating on him and throughout the process filming it all on the camera he had stolen from said paparazzo. TMZ played a part as one of the paparazzi.

Release

Critical reception

The film has received generally positive reviews. Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 74% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 130 reviews, with an average score of 6.4/10 The critical consensus is: Thanks to a suitably raunchy script and a pair of winning performances from Jonah Hill and Russell Brand, Get Him to the Greek is one of the year's funniest comedies. Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 64 out of 100, based on 36 reviews.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three out of four stars by saying that "under the cover of slapstick, cheap laughs, raunchy humor, gross-out physical comedy and sheer exploitation, Get Him to the Greek also is fundamentally a sound movie."

Many websites have given the film favorable reviews; websites like The Film Stage and First Showing both enjoyed it.

The Film Stage said "Overall I really enjoyed this film. With so many lackluster comedies asking for your money, it’s nice to actually have a quirky, witty, and well-performed film finally hit the theatres. While some of the subject matter may offend some, it will definitely appeal to those that have a darker sense of humor."

First Showing praises it saying "The golden Gods of comedy shine, though, for what is likely going to go down as the funniest film of 2010. Get Him to the Greek brings one of those rare instances of a sequel/spinoff/side project that is both funnier and better than the planet it orbits. Whether a continued look at Aldous Snow and the knots he gets himself tied into is in the cards, or even if we end up getting a side project of a side project from some, ancillary character in this film (P. Diddy's Sergio Roma would be my, personal choice), you can rest assured that, with Stoller at the wheel, the next film will be faced with the same level of honest and unrelenting humor as Get Him to the Greek. It is a film that truly deserves the encore it is bound to receive."

Box Office

In its opening weekend, the film opened at #2 behind Shrek Forever After with a gross of $17,570,955.

Music

Carl Barat, Dan Bern, Mike Viola, Jason Segel, Lyle Workman, and Jarvis Cocker have written music for the film, which includes a duet between Snow and Jackie Q. The Flaming Lips and The Strokes have also been heard on the previews for the movie.

Soundtrack

Untitled

The soundtrack of Get Him to the Greek was released on June 1, 2010.

1. "Just Say Yes" by Infant Sorrow
2. "Gang of Lust" by Infant Sorrow
3. "Furry Walls" by Infant Sorrow
4. "Going Up" by Infant Sorrow
5. "Bangers, Beans and Mash" by Infant Sorrow
6. "The Clap" by Infant Sorrow
7. "I am Jesus" by Infant Sorrow
8. "Riding Daphne" by Infant Sorrow
9. "F.O.H." by Infant Sorrow
10. "Yeah Yeah Oi Oi" by Infant Sorrow
11. "African Child (Trapped in Me)" by Infant Sorrow
12. "Little Bird" by Infant Sorrow
13. "Searching for a Father" by Infant Sorrow
14. "Supertight" by Jackie Q (feat. Aldous Snow)
15. "Ring 'Round" by Jackie Q

Several songs are featured in the film that were not included on the soundtrack, including "London Calling" by The Clash, "Anarchy in the U.K." by The Sex Pistols,"20th Century Boy" by T.Rex, "Rocks Off" by The Rolling Stones, "Ghosts N Stuff" by Deadmau5 featuring Rob Swire, "Personality Crisis" by The New York Dolls, "Take the Veil Cerpin Taxt" by The Mars Volta, "Come on Eileen" by Dexys Midnight Runners, "Cretin Hop" by The Ramones, "Stop Drop and Roll" by Foxboro Hot Tubs, "Touch My Body" by Mariah Carey, "Fuck Me I'm Famous" by DJ Dougal and Gammer, and "Inside of You" by Infant Sorrow (which was originally featured in Forgetting Sarah Marshall).

External links

• Official website
• Get Him to the Greek at IMDb
• Get Him to the Greek at Box Office Mojo
• Get Him to the Greek at Rotten Tomatoes
• Get Him to the Greek Production Notes