Get Him To The Greek

"Get Him To The Greek" reunites Jonah Hill and Russell Brand in a raunchy, raucous comedy about an aspiring record company exec Aaron Green (Hill) who has the brilliant idea of rejuvenating the career of fading British rock star Aldous Snow (Brand) with a comeback concert at the world-renowned Greek Theater in Los Angeles. Dispatched by his boss (Combs) to transport the notoriously dissolute Snow from London to L.A., Aaron has just 72 hours to wrangle the out-of-control rocker across the Atlantic. The seemingly simple assignment devolves into a thicket of groupies and parties, as Snow does his anarchic best to undermine his handler at every turn and Aaron does whatever it takes to keep his unruly charge on track. (Gary Reber)

Both the theatrical version (01:49:11) and the unrated extended version (01:53:51) are available. Special features include commentary with Director Nicholas Stoller, cast members Jonah Hill, Russell Brand, Rose Byrne, Elisabeth Moss and Producer Rodney Rothman; three documentaries: "Getting To Get Him To The Greek" (HD 32:07), "Getting In Tune With The Greek" (HD 13:47), and "The Making Of African Child" (HD 06:26); a host of music selections, including five music videos (HD 13:52), The Greek Concert 1999 (HD 06:35), The Greek Concert 2009 (HD 11:36), The Today Show: The Clap (HD 03:04), VH1 Storytellers: Furry Walls (HD 03:22), World Tour: Riding Daphne (HD 03:48), and London 02 Concert (HD 11:00); nine Karaoke songs; U-Control; My Scenes; and BD-Live functionality.

The 1.85:1 1080p VC-1 picture exhibits a natural appearance that is well balanced in terms of the color palette, with no overly saturated hues. Fleshtones are naturally rendered. Blacks are deep and solid, and shadow renderings are generally respectably delineated, even though the overall brightness appears somewhat dimmed in many scenes. Then too, grain at times, in conjunction with out-of-focus backgrounds contributes to the lack of visual crispness. Resolution is basically good, though, especially during close-ups of facial features and object textures. Still, while some scenes are effectively presented, the dimmest prevails, which is hindering visually. (Gary Reber)

The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 5.1-channel soundtrack is a lively affair with some exciting music sequences that are well recorded and presented with a wide and deep soundstage that extends aggressively into the surrounds. Bass is nicely balanced during the music sequences in the .1 LFE channel. The concert at the Greek is a highlight! Dialogue, while production design and ADR derived, sounds generally integrated spatially but at times forward sounding. Much of the production is frontal focused, with surround pretty much limited to the injection of music. Overall, this is a fun soundtrack that comedically enhances the wild storytelling. (Gary Reber)