Movies I Shouldn't Like

HBO and Cinemax had one of their free preview weekends a while back, and I like to surf through those times and record movies and shows to my DVR that I wouldn't normally go out of my way to watch. One of those movies was a film that by all rights I shouldn't have liked, but did, and it got me thinking about other movies I like more than seems logical. Maybe I'll do a series of posts on this, starting with the movie that sparked these thoughts, GET HIM TO THE GREEK.

As you can see from the poster, it's brought to you by 'the director of FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL and the producer of KNOCKED UP and SUPERBAD.' Normally these proclamations are designed to draw people in, this one pushed me away. I am not a Judd Apatow fan, the comedies he's made or been involved with all seem to have a lack of characters for me, and I find them to be boring. So I had no right enjoying GHTTG. I'm not a Russell Brand fan, I can't recall him ever making me laugh. This film should've been high on my list to avoid. Rock & Roll rarely works in movies, when film makers are trying soooo hard to convince you that their lead actor is the Greatest Rocker Ever, but the songs all suck, well, that's a death knell for a movie about music.

Go figure, I recorded the movie, made my wife watch it with me, and within 10 minutes I was already loving Brand's character Aldous Snow. I bought it all, and mainly because he's incredibly believable in the role of a debauched rock star. And the music ain't bad either. Jonah Hill is o.k.

So it may not be a perfect movie, the end's a little goofy, but I liked the characters enough to see me through any problems I had with the plot. It's always fun when a movie surprises me and confounds my expectations, and GHTTG certainly did that. Good on them.