Get Him to the Greek (2010)

Rock star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) releases an album and an accompanying single “African Child”. The song and music video flops, is banned and called “the worst thing to happen to Africa since the apartheid” by NME. His girlfriend, Jackie Q (Rose Byrne), takes custody of their son, Naples, and leaves him; as a result, Aldous hits rock bottom by drinking and doing drugs excessively.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Aaron Green (Jonah Hill) works as a low-level talent scout at Pinnacle Records. He lives with his girlfriend, Daphne (Elisabeth Moss), a medical intern. Pinnacle Records is losing money, and the head of the company, Sergio Roma (Sean “Diddy” Combs), asks for ideas. Green proposes for Aldous Snow to play at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on the tenth anniversary of his legendary performance there. Sergio sends Aaron to London to escort Aldous to the performance. Before he leaves, Daphne informs Aaron that she has received a job offer in Seattle and that they are moving there, which leads to an argument resulting in an implied break-up.

After retrieving Aldous from his apartment, Aaron tries futilely to control Aldous’ rambunctious behavior, which causes them to miss several flights. They bar-hop across the city for several hours, leaving a trail of women and alcohol in their wake. Daphne calls Aaron to apologize for the fight, but Aaron already believes that they had broken up. Throughout his partying, Aaron’s cellphone accidentally calls Daphne so she keeps up-to-date on his goings-on.

Aaron and Aldous continue to New York for Aldous’ appearance on Today. To keep Aldous sober for his performance, Aaron imbibes all of Aldous’ whiskey and marijuana to comic effect. Minutes before the performance, Aldous realizes he is unable to remember the lyrics to his most recent but unpopular song, “African Child”, and replaces it with an older hit called “The Clap”, to cheers and excitement from the audience.

About to embark on a flight to Los Angeles, Aldous forces Aaron to smuggle heroin in his anus. During their travels and time in London and New York, Aaron has learned that Aldous has become miserable and lonely, as he misses his son and has not seen any signs of genuine love from his own father in years. Aaron suggests he visits Jackie Q and his father; the two stop in Las Vegas the night before to show to see Aldous’s father (Colm Meaney). Sergio also arrives, wanting to help oversee the final proceedings. Sergio hooks up Aaron with a sexually rambunctious girl named Destiny (Carla Gallo), who takes him to a hotel room and rapes him. After Aaron tells Aldous that he has been raped, the other men laugh it off and encourage him to smoke a “Geoffrey”, a joint described as “a Neapolitan of drugs”. Aaron panics and starts to have a bad trip, believing he is having a heart attack. Aldous’ father makes the trip worse by confirming that Aaron is having a heart attack while Aldous attempts to calm Aaron down by telling him “to stroke the furry wall”. Aldous fights with his father; Sergio (who is also high on Geoffrey) jumps in the fight, and the hotel room is set on fire. Aldous attempts to help Aaron by giving him an adrenaline shot to the heart and they run out of the hotel, chased by Sergio, who is hit by a car but unharmed.

Aldous and Aaron are driven to Los Angeles, where Aldous visits Jackie Q. She has been sleeping with Metallica’s drummer, Lars Ulrich (playing himself) and confesses that Naples is not actually his biological son. This depresses him even further. Meanwhile, Aaron goes to his home to apologize to Daphne. They are interrupted when Aldous arrives at their house and proposes that he, Aaron, and Daphne engage in a threesome because Aaron has been with other women while partying with Aldous. During the threesome, Aaron angrily decides to kiss Aldous, breaking it up. Daphne feels horrible about the threesome, and storms out of the room. Aaron angrily tells Aldous to go, criticizing Aldous’ overall mental state.

Instead of preparing for his show, Aldous goes to the rooftop of the Standard Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, and calls Aaron, threatening to jump. Aaron attempts to coax Aldous down from the roof. Aldous attempts to jump down to the Standard pool instead of killing himself, accidentally shattering an arm. Aldous tells Aaron that he is lonely and feels unconnected to people, but Aaron tells Aldous that thousands of fans love him and are waiting just to see his face. Aldous decides to perform at the Greek Theatre despite his injury, although Aaron tries to convince him to go to the hospital. Upon his arrival, Sergio offers Aaron drugs to give to Aldous so he will not cancel the concert. Aaron angrily refuses and quits his job on the spot. He walks stage-side with Aldous, trying to convince him to go to the hospital instead. However, Aaron sees how happy Aldous is while performing and heads home to reconcile with Daphne.

Months later in Seattle (where Aaron and Daphne have moved), Aldous, sober once again, has returned to fame with a single “Furry Walls” produced by Aaron based on events from their night in Las Vegas, performing on the VH1 Storytellers program.

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