By Fred Topel | Images property of Universal Pictures
Get Him to the Greek
Get Him to the Greek is just funny. It’s so nice to see a summer comedy that just does what it’s supposed to do. Sure it’s got some depth but clearly its first priority is to make us laugh.
Review: Get Him to the Greek
The story of the movie is funny itself, but the best moments are the random non sequiturs. Everyone is in character and making magic. They’re doing their own Stephen Colberts, sticking with a character to its most extremes. Sean Combs is especially funny, maybe surprising because so many of his colleagues take themselves so seriously.
The movie’s style really enhances its humor. The quick cuts represent a fast pace that covers a lot. It’s aggressive editing with the best parts packed in. They cut to the best non sequitur joke, the best reference or tangent. They skip the development of the joke and jolt us to the funniest punch line.
The specific inside world of the industry has plenty of jokes for rock entertainment fans, then spins off to real issues from speaking the language of celebrity to broken families and relationships.
The film is so up front about the issues that being honest is the humor. It’s funny because no one actually is honest in real life, so that fiction is comedy. We know their references. They do Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and other pop culture. It’s abstract and obscure too.
There’s plenty of fake Aldous Snow music, and even a Jackie Q video. These are great because it’s real music with ridiculous lyrics. It’s not quite Dewey Cox but it’s pretty good.
It’s all a show for us. The filmmakers and stars really put in an extra effort to make sure everything in Get Him to the Greek would be entertaining. They succeeded in making it amusing, got the messages in there that they wanted and established a unique tone, even within the Judd Apatow family of comedies.
Add to Heffee!
