Get Me To The Greek

[August1991]

I bought a ticket for "Mao's Last Dancer" but since I was about an hour early, I wandered into the hall showing 'Get Me To the Greek' instead. Before going through the door, I had absolutely no idea what this movie was about. (I imagined that with such a title it was an attempt to be edgy. I was not wrong.) Later, as I walked out of the cinema, walking among the young men, it was plain that I was not in the demographic for this movie.

Yet, I stayed until the end. And I laughed. I didn't like the nude bum scenes but I was willing to accept them. The scatalogical humour was not extravagant but there were numerous references to sex - including a humourous threesome. I liked the attempt at something new within the confines of something commercial. The script impressed me. Obviously, alot of hard work went into creating the script.

People will deride this American movie as ignorant and commercial. Instead, I see it as an example of America's vibrancy. It is so innocent, and so honestly ambitious. It strives lightly. No Pakistani, Iranian or Saudi could create such a movie. Has anyone ever seen even one Saudi movie?

[kimmy]

I bought a ticket for "Mao's Last Dancer" but since I was about an hour early, I wandered into the hall showing 'Get Me To the Greek' instead. Before going through the door, I had absolutely no idea what this movie was about. (I imagined that with such a title it was an attempt to be edgy. I was not wrong.) Later, as I walked out of the cinema, walking among the young men, it was plain that I was not in the demographic for this movie.

Yet, I stayed until the end.

You gave up the chance to see Mao's Last Dancer to see the end of Get Him To The Greek?

Based on your view that the value of something can be measured by what somebody is willing to give up to obtain it, we know that your praise for this movie is sincere.

And I laughed. I didn't like the nude bum scenes but I was willing to accept them. The scatalogical humour was not extravagant but there were numerous references to sex - including a humourous threesome. I liked the attempt at something new within the confines of something commercial. The script impressed me. Obviously, alot of hard work went into creating the script.

Your comments made me think of Roger Ebert's review of Kingpin, which concludes:

Movies like this require a kind of daring. There are jokes that must have made even the filmmakers groan (the business of removing the horse's shoes, for example). Good taste, prudence and timidity had no place on the set. The Farrellys cut no corners and took no prisoners. ``Kingpin'' provides the release of many kinds of laughter, including the most rare: disbelieving.

This sort of movie is often looked down on as garbage by people who like "serious" movies; I believe Ebert put Kingpin on his top-10 list for that year, because he thought it was that funny.

-k

[August1991]

Hey, I missed in my post above a highlight of this movie: Paul Krugman has a speaking part. To be honest, while I watched the movie and it came to his scene, I said to myself "That's Paul Krugman" and then it dawned on me that he was the only face in the movie that I recognized.

----

I'll add this second point too, to put in context the thrid paragraph of the OP. There are no cinemas in Saudi Arabia. They are forbidden as well as all public musical concerts of any sort. Saudi Arabia has no theatres.

Edited June 14, 2010 by August1991

[Shakeyhands]

I saw it last week, I laughed, a lot.

Going in to it and just expecting some humourous fair was exactly the way to approach the movie.