feature: Get Him to the Greek (with exclusive clip!)

Back in 2008 a little comedy called Forgetting Sarah Marshall, from first time director Nicholas Stoller caused quite a stir. It was romantic comedy that actually delivered laughs. Many of those laughs came from Aldous Snow, the narcissistic English rock star played by Russell Brand)… So many in fact, that they decided to make a spin off, common in TV but fairly rare in film. Well, compared to sequels anyway.

If I recall correctly I liked Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I thought it was a solid comedy… but I didn’t give it a particularly high rating. Actually I think my ratings have been creeping up again lately so I’ll have to do another re-adjustment soon. My main criticism of it was that it was a safe romantic comedy, too safe. Fortunately Brand’s character had very little to do with that aspect of the film; judging by the clip below Get Him to the Greek looks anything but safe!

It is slightly disingenuous to compare Forgetting Sarah Marshall to Get Him to the Greek though. While they share a character, director, star and producer, the writer is completely different. Nicholas Stoller has taken on that role himself. I haven’t actually seen any of the films he’s been involved in writing, I’m not a huge fan of Jim Carrey in broad comedy mode, but I am a big fan of Russell Brand – I have faith.

Anyway, I mentioned GHttG is a spin off. The gist of it is that Aaron Green (played by Jonah Hill of Superbad fame) is an ambitious idealistic young intern at a record company looking for a way to the top. The company is in trouble and Green pitches the idea of getting Aldous Snow to do a 10th anniversary gig in Greek Theatre, LA to an executive (P. Diddy). He loves it. All Green has to do is get Snow from London to Los Angeles….

… unfortunately for him, Aldous Snow is far more into the rock star lifestyle rather than staging rock star performances. Hilarity, I’m sure, will ensue, and I, for one, am looking forward to it. The sun is shining and it feels like time for a good laugh!

Get Him to the Greek comes to Irish cinemas on Friday 25th June 2010 and is rated 16. Bear that in mind if you’re gonna watch the clip – you can’t say I didn’t warn you!

So what do you reckon? Are you looking forward to it as much as me?

an Irish exclusive clip courtesy of our friends at Universal Pictures Ireland