What I liked about the movie:
The Jokes
Last year, around this time, a little movie called The Hangover was released. It re-established my faith in comedies. 'Hangover' succeeded by having jokes with four guys just talking; not just physical comedy. 'Greek' achieves the same thing. Brand and Jonah Hill deliver their lines with such timing, you can't help but laugh. It's no surprise the movie doesn't totally depend on fall over funny gags. The movie was produced by Judd Apatow, who seems to be a part of every successful comedy of the past 4 years.
There is one shtick that didn't work for me at all. The threesome, that's all I need to say haha. I don't want to give anything away so I'll just tell you this; it felt forced, out of place and was done simply to be funny, not add anything to the story.
The Settings
There are a lot of "road trip" type movies I'm a fan of, this is one of them. The duo of Hill and Brand travel from London to New York, to Las Vegas to Los Angeles. And each setting adds something to the story. In other words, they are all necessary. There are a lot of movies where they visit a particular city just to give the audience something they recognize (Jumper).
The Music
I have not purchased a CD in YEARS. You may think I download illegally if I haven't bought a CD in so long, but I really don't. The noise the studios release as music every year is horrible these days. To hear all the original material written for Brand's character was great. Some were really funny. It was reminiscent of another Apatow production, Walk Hard. Creative writing and perfect delivery made the songs great.
What I didn't like about the movie:
The Pacing
This was a minor negative for me, but still worth mentioning. The transition scenes from one city to the next were a bit off. They were slow and had tons of dialogue (serious, not funny dialogue). Some of these transitions were too long and some were just a tad bit too short. The most memorable one was when the two friends discuss Aldous Snow's relationship with his father, it felt off. But again, a minor defect in the movie.
Overall the movie is a winner. It deserves the accolades it's receiving. Also worth mentioning is P. Diddy who's role as a studio exec is fantastic. Diddy has really grown as an actor and I like that he's trying comedy. The movie is not The Hangover, it's not. What it is though, is a funny movie. It's one of the better road trip films, one of the better music related films, and some of Jonah Hill's best work. Russell Brand is great in the movie and I see his career only getting bigger as this movie hits DVD and later cable. Funny stuff.
