GET HIM to an acting coach!

Get Him to the Greek (04.06.10) is a perfect example of when Hollywood take a chance on a spin-off featuring a character who is adequately digestible as a supporting player that can steal the comedy in a couple of scenes from the leads, but is someone who should never get his own movie. When Jay and Silent Bob spun-off to Strike Back and Jack Sparrow became the lead in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise - the result was the same. Meandering movies, with little focus. I sense the same here. The other problem in having Russell Brand as your lead, and it's something that Simon mentioned in his Arthur script review last week, is that it totally exposes his lack of talent as an actor. He is a comedian with small range, and he can only play one role - a slightly louder version of himself. He is, in some ways, the English version of Dane Cook. I mean, just take a look at the above still - where is his eyes drifting out towards?.. and is that the best "run like hell" expression he can muster?

Brand reprises his role from Forgetting Sarah Marshall as outrageous British rock-star Aldous Snow and his buddy comedy co-star Jonah Hill plays a completely different, smarter and successful dude to before. Get Him to the Greek comes from the same co-writer/director Nicholas Stoller and feels like the result of a drunken conversation on the set. "Wouldn't it be a good idea Russell, if we took your character..."