Get Him to the Greek

Does anyone remember "My Favorite Year" with a hapless Mark-Linn Baker struggling to get a soused Peter O'Toole to an appearance on television that might reinvigorate his waning career?

In this (to me) remake of that 1982 comedy classic, we have a hapless Jonah Hill struggling to get a drugged-out Russell Brand to an appearance on television that might reinvigorate his waning career. (By the way, "The Greek" is the name of a theater.)

In the original, we didn't have our hero concealing drugs in body cavities, nor did we have semi-orgies, but beyond that the story follows the same basic arc: Substance abuse, fragile egos and a jeopardized relationship for our hero. One big difference: In the original, the star remained a souse; in this remake, the star actually cleans up (a little applause here).

I only subjected myself to this thing because I had read about Sean Combs. I freely admit his character was the best thing in the movie. He was profane, he was a tyrant, and, unlike the Jonah Hill character, Combs was funny! In my opinion, the only reason Jonah Hill ("Cyrus" and "Superbad") is a star is because Hollywood seems to think corpulence is hilarious; I can detect no talent, no comic timing, no appeal.

Ah well....