Stars set 'Get Him to the Greek' on right (but raunchy) road

"Get Him to the Greek" is another vulgar, laugh-your-head-off adult comedy from the Judd Apatow School of Offensive Humor Redeemed by Icky Characters You Slowly Learn to Love Because They're So Darn Human.

This one is written and directed by Nick Stoller, whose saucy and sassy comedy "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" introduced the world to self-destructive British rocker Aldous Snow, who graduates from a supporting character there to a lead here.

The epic quest-like plot kicks into action when a Pinnacle Records junior executive named Aaron Green ("Superbad" star Jonah Hill) suggests to his pushy, foul-mouthed boss Sergio (Sean Combs) that they bring back Aldous (reprised by ultra-blue stand-up comedian Russell Brand) for the 10th anniversary of his successful concert at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.

But, as we glimpse in a series of revealing pseudo-rock video news clips, Aldous has fallen on tough times after his newest single, "Infant Sorrow" - a callous exploitation of children caught in some generic Third World war - is accused of setting back race relations more than the video beating of Rodney King.

Sergio orders Aaron to pick up Aldous at his London home, get him to New York to be on the "Today" show, then make sure he arrives at the Greek Theatre in time for his concert in three days.

The crazy, obsessed characters in "Get Him to the Greek" don't just rush from one scene to another, they leap, bounce and shoot from one frenetic event to the next as if trapped in a giant, hallucinogenic pinball game that keeps going faster and getting nuttier by the minute.

Just before he leaves, Aaron has a fight with his live-in lover, a medical student named Daphne ("Mad Men" star Elisabeth Moss), who's constantly tired and can't think of anything more romantic than watching a "Gossip Girl" marathon.

Likewise, the naughty boy of rock has just broken up with his significant rock singer other, Jackie Q (Rose Byrne), an event that prompts Aldous to fall off the wagon.

"Get Him to the Greek" embarks on a hedonistic Odyssey of self-discovery by both Aldous and Aaron, a quest that whisks the men through a maze of tasteless hilarity involving strip clubs, random restroom sex, exotic drugs stuffed in embarrassing places and inexplicable walls of fur that exist for reasons that don't make sense and don't matter even more.

Apparently, being the writer/director and co-producer (along with Apatow) allows Stoller the luxury of loving his material a little more than his audiences might. There are times when Stoller lets his gags run on too long and the story's pace threatens to slow to a halt.

Nonetheless, the manic chemistry between Hill and Brand, coupled with a hyperbolic, over-the-top performance by Combs, picks up most of Stoller's narrative slack and keeps the forward movement.

Hill is also up for the 2010 Jeff Spicoli Award for the most utterances of the word "awesome" in a single movie. I counted at least six.

Next film, Stoller might want to invest in a thesaurus.

"Get Him to the Greek"

Rating: ★ ★ ★

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

Directed by: Nick Stoller

Other: A Universal Pictures release. Rated R for drug use, language, nudity, sexual situations and violence. 108 minutes