Film Review: Get him to The Greek

Get him to The Greek. 109 minutes. MA15+. Written and directed by Nicholas Stoller, from the Forgetting Sarah Marshall characters created by Jason Segel.

The world of rock ‘n’ roll – both onstage and behind the scenes – has resulted in a veritable goldmine of unforgettable films including A Hard Day's Night, The Rose, Almost Famous and This Is Spinal Tap. Something deep within the abyss between the drug-addled, booze-soaked, carnivalesque existence of rock musicians and the inspirational and unique concert performances that feed their souls, can fire an audience’s imagination like little else.

With his latest song and music video “African Child” labelled "the worst thing to happen to Africa since apartheid" and then banned, Aldous Snow (Russell Brand, pictured on the right) suddenly finds his previously lucrative career charting toward oblivion. Meanwhile, Pinnacle Records talent scout Aaron Green (Jonah Hill, pictured left) remembers a time when Snow was a big star. When Pinnacle boss Sergio (Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, pictured in the background) charges him with delivering the luckless Snow to the Los Angeles concert venue “The Greek” for a comeback concert, Aaron must race against the clock to ensure Snow makes it onstage for the most important gig of their lives.

With lashings of irreverent charm and laugh-out-loud hilarity, Get him to The Greek is a refreshingly unpretentious gem that plays it big, vulgar and broad from start to finish. The fantastic cast make absolute meals out of Stoller’s wicked screenplay, with Brand (who first played Aldous Snow in 2008’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall), turning in a powerhouse performance as the bewildered, recalcitrant rock star. Hill is magical as the earnest but determined young talent scout, and it is this unlikely pairing that provides the film with its big-hearted, Laurel and Hardy-esque core.

Australian actress Rose Byrne does some of her best work to date as Snow’s girlfriend ‘Jackie Q’ – revealing a flawless talent for perfectly-timed comedy, while Elisabeth Moss (Peggy Olsen in Mad Men) is equally ideal as Aaron’s girlfriend ‘Daphne’. Cinematographer Robert Yeoman (Whip It) keeps us deliciously on the spot with all the action, while William Kerr and Michael Sale’s (both back from Forgetting Sarah Marshall) editing ensures the film clips along at a marvellously engaging pace.

While Stoller’s skilful and assured guiding hand certainly holds the hedonistic and narcissistic rock star world to account with some brilliant observational comedy (the 'African Child' music video and the Today Show sequence in New York are just two brilliant examples), he does so with genuine affection for the very human element that ties it all together – honesty. Yes, there is the universality of music and its power to unite us in a rare and uncommon ecstasy – but there is also the attendant power to exploit our unconditional surrender to its multi-faceted intrigues.

As Get him to The Greek powers along to the possibility of a big concert conclusion, it unexpectedly reveals itself to also be concerned with the importance and value of honesty – both to oneself and each other. As our rock star idols take to the stage and perform, they do so with the purest of intentions: to create and share with us the power of a thrillingly raw, loud and inhibition-shedding connection with honesty – both in the music and of the moment.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspapers Group and was published in the print edition of the Geraldton Guardian.

DVD Review: This Is It

This Is It. 111 minutes. Rated G. Directed by Kenny Ortega.

In March 2009, Michael Jackson announced his "final curtain call" – a series of 10 concerts at London's O2 arena. Titled This Is It, and billed as one of the year's most important musical events, the initial 10 date schedule was increased to 50 – all of which sold out within hours of the tickets going on sale. The concerts were to commence on July 13, 2009 and conclude on March 6, 2010 – but less than three weeks before the first show, Michael Jackson was dead. He was 50 years old.

While much of his adult life has been defined by a maelstrom of personal, professional, legal and financial controversies, it is impossible to deny that Michael Jackson was not only one of the most influential entertainers of our age, but also one of the most successful. Throughout his career, Jackson released 13 No.1 singles, won 13 Grammy Awards and is recognised in the Guinness Book of Records as the Most Successful Entertainer of All Time. His 1982 album Thriller remains the best-selling album of all time, having sold more than 110 million (of the estimated career total of 750 million) copies.

In the weeks leading up to the epic This Is It concerts, Jackson rehearsed at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles (where his memorial service would later be held) under the direction of director/choreographer Kenny Ortega (the three High School Musical movies). Edited from more than 100 hours of footage, the result is a mesmerising, behind-the-scenes documentary that succeeds – spectacularly – on every level. From the introspective moments to the dazzling technological sequences where digital environments created for certain songs (Earth Song and Smooth Criminal in particular) break free from their sumptuous screen-bound representations and literally burst onto the stage, This Is It is an engrossing experience.

The painstaking preparation, the gruelling dance routines and the exchanges between Jackson and his collaborators (particularly the dancers and musicians whose flair, precision and talent is exemplary) combine to create a rarified atmosphere of candour and intimacy – even as the massive concert's technical infrastructure takes shape around them. Given the fact that the concerts were never performed, Jackson's "it's your turn to shine" moment with South Australian-born guitarist Orianthi Panagaris is an especially poignant example of the many potentially life-changing experiences that were never to eventuate. And while this tragedy pervades every moment of our viewing experience, it goes nowhere towards reducing the creative power and supreme artistry that Jackson and his team were preparing to unfurl before the adoring concert ticket-holders.

For anyone interested in the creative process and all that goes into the preparation of a major international concert, this is an absorbing, luxury of riches we may otherwise never have witnessed. For Michael Jackson fans, it's compulsory viewing.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspapers Group and was published in the print edition of the Geraldton Guardian.