Get Him to the Greek (2010)

Tags

Colm Meaney, Comedy, Elisabeth Moss, Get Him to the Greek, Jonah Hill, Movie, Rose Byrne, Russell Brand, Sean Combs

I mean, clearly people would rather watch me than him or Jonah, right?

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Jonah Hill, Russell Brand, Rose Byrne, Elisabeth Moss, Sean Combs, Colm Meaney

Sergio: Do you like his music?
Aaron: I LOVE his music.  Except for African Child.  That album sucked.
Sergio: No, you love Africa Child!  Your mother loves African Child.  It’s your girlfriend’s favorite album.  You love African Child.  You bought 10 copies on the first day.
Aaron: Oh…okay, yeah, I love African Child.  So, lie to him.
Sergio: No, we don’t lie to people.  We don’t do that.  We just believe invalid truths.

Aaron (Hill) is a lower level worker at a record company who suggests getting washed up rock star Aldous Snow (Brand) to perform a big concert at The Greek Theater in Los Angeles.  The idea is approved, which means Aaron must go to England and get the depressed, constantly partying Snow to Los Angeles in time for the concert.

I guess some characters are just funnier in small doses.  Not that this movie isn’t funny at times, because it is.  It’s just that it started to really wear me down after a while.  Russel Brand was funny as Aldous Snow in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but I just don’t think the character is quite interesting enough to carry a movie.  Close, but not quite.

It’s a typical setup, with a more straight laced character having to deal with a wild, troublesome character who introduces him to a lot of new experiences, most of which our hero can’t handle.  Jonah Hill is not bad in this role, but he’s not exactly my favorite actor, so I wasn’t too thrilled about watching him for an hour and 45 minutes.

Still, the first half of the movie had me laughing at a fairly steady rate.  The problem is, it just degenerates into a lot of yelling, drug use, and awkward sex humor.  It got really obnoxious to watch at times, even though there were still a few laughs sprinkled in there.

I’d place this one somewhere in the middle of the pack as far as recent comedies go.  There’s just not enough material here to work with, thus it becomes repetitive and tiresome after a while.  Hopefully the Aldous Snow character’s story has been told and there won’t be a sequel.  Though, I wouldn’t mind seeing Rose Byrne get her own movie as Aldous’ girlfriend, Jackie Q.  I could watch Rose in just about anything.

Drugs are bad, mkay?

10 – 3 for the second half filled with yelling and attempts at zaniness that just don’t work – 1.1 for the two lead characters just not being able to really carry a film = 5.9

Law Abiding Citizen (2009)

Tags

Action, Bruce McGill, Colm Meaney, Drama, Gerard Butler, Jamie Foxx, Leslie Bibb, Movie, Regina Hall, Suspense

the Clyde abides...

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Jamie Foxx, Gerard Butler, Colm Meaney, Bruce McGill, Leslie Bibb, Regina Hall

Nick: Clyde, I think you’ve got me confused with the detail people.  See, I don’t deal with prison conditions.
Dunnigan: I believe those cots are bolted into the cells.
Clyde: Well that’s what wrenches are for, dumba**!

Ten years after his wife and daughter were brutally murdered right in front of him, Clyde Shelton (Butler) seeks to violently bring down the very justice system that he feels failed him.

Not bad.  Could have been better, but…not bad.

The whole thing seems highly implausible, but that’s mostly forgivable in the case of an action/thriller.  The problem is, I didn’t feel like we really knew many of the characters at all.  I guess Nick Rice (Foxx) had the most depth, but everybody else, even Butler to an extent, felt like cardboard cutouts being moved around when and where necessary.  There was only a few minutes at the beginning where we see Clyde pre-mad-bomber stage.  He’s making jewelry with his daughter, or something, so we have to assume he’s an average, loving father.  We don’t really get to see any real transformation take place in the character, which makes the movie seem even more unbelievable at first.  But then we find out a ways in that he’s some sort of super-spy who’s an expert in killing people.  Okay, maybe he’s not just an average, loving father.

The acting is good enough, even though it’s mostly just people yelling at each other in jail cells, courtrooms, or various other settings.  I wish they’d made Clyde a little more sympathetic and conflicted, though.  It doesn’t take long for him to go from somebody we’re rooting for as he takes out the guys who killed his family to somebody we’re backing slowly away from as he starts trying to take out anybody and everybody who had anything to do with his case.  I think it would have been nice to keep the audience unsure about whether they wanted to back away or stick with him for a little longer.

There are a few unexpected turns along the way, but overall, it ends up exactly where you’d expect it to.  Not that that ruins the movie, it just makes it seem all the more ordinary.

Not bad…could have been better.

Might want to keep an eye on who’s renting storage space near your prison…

10 – 1.5 for thin characters – 1 for some implausibility – 1 for an overall dull feel and a predictable finale = 6.5