In this Judd Apatow production Aldous Snow(Russell Brand) is a British rockstar with the equally succesful Jackie Q(Rose Byrne) as his wife. A disastrous record-African Child, sees him spiral out of control and lose his 7 year long sobriety streak. This leads to a break up and he’s truly down and out.
Aaron Green(Jonah Hill) works for a record company whose boss Sergio (Sean Combs)invites ideas for keeping the company out of the red in the recession. Aaron suggests a 10 year anniversary concert by Aldous at the Greek Theatre.Initially the suggestion is ignored but as nothing seems to work out Sergio charges Aaron with going to London to get Aldous to the Greek Theatre within 72 hours for the concert.
Right before leaving his live-in girlfriend Daphne (Elisabeth Moss of Mad-Men fame)tells him she’s got a residency offer from Seattle and she’s going to accept it; so he thinks the relationship is virtually over.
As he reaches London he realises that his task is not going to be easy.As Aaron gets drawn into Aldous’ world he gets enticed by his hedonistic lifestyle and to keep him clean he ends up consuming/hiding various drugs(including Heroin up his bum),smoking marijuana,having sex with strangers while unknowingly calling up his girlfriend and drinking copious amounts of alcohol leading to hilarious adventures.
The timelines Aaron has in mind go for a toss and after taking him from London to New York (for a Today Show appearance) he’s forced to take a detour to Las Vegas as acting upon one of his earlier suggestions Aldous decides to visit his father in Vegas.
The Vegas visit is disastrous and as Sergio meets them to keep the schedule on track they end up getting involved in a huge fight,smoking a cocktail of drugs and stroking furry walls. They escape and finally make it to LA.
Here Aldous tries to reunite with Jackie Q before the concert.The movie spirals into a comi-tragic climax with the relationship of Aaron-Daphne coming into focus and Aldous’ depression coming to the fore but ultimately the events culminate in a concert which is a resounding success.
The movie has many special guest appearances including-Lars Ulrich(the METALLICA drummer),Pink,Christina Aguilera etc.
The soundtrack with all of Aldous Snow and Jackie Q attributed songs being really hilarious add to the comic appeal of the movie.
Overall the movie is a hilarious journey that gives us a peek into the over the top lifestyles of actual rockstars. I would definitely recommend a watch.Rate it 8/10.
Some lines-
Aldous Snow: I was watching the news one day and I saw footage about, uh, war, and I think it was in Darfur, or Rwanda, or Zimbabwe, or one of ’em, and I thought, ‘this isn’t right, is it?’ And I made some phone calls and it turns out, it isn’t.
Sergio Roma: I’m mind fucking you right now.
Aaron Green: Well I hope you have a condom cause I have a dirty mind.
Aldous Snow: What you did was very spiteful, but it was also very brave and very honest and I respect you for doing that. But the content of what you said has made me hate you. So there’s a layer of respect, admittedly, for your truthfulness, but it’s peppered with hate. Hateful respect.
