Capsule: "Get Him to the Greek"

"Am I seriously suppose to hang out with this guy?'"

The best thing about this movie was how much I got from it, despite not wanting anything. I had little interest in seeing it. I had no expectations or hopes from it. And it was really just a pleasant diversion with Jessica on a muggy, gray Saturday afternoon. "Get Him to the Greek" is just that. A low-key diversion that's surprisingly satisfying in the one crazy road trip, or one crazy night mold, about a well-meaning record schlub who's tasked with escorting hard-charging Brit-rocker Aldous Snow to a gig in Los Angeles.

High notes:

- Jonah Hill's actually pretty decent as a straight man. When he's not allowed to riff or act like a motormouth, he's actually a pretty likable little nerd. For example, his ability to swear mid-frustration ('The fuck is this? Middle Earth?!"), and poorly play it cool (consuming all of Aldous's drugs to keep the guy straight for The Today Show), are much more disciplined, well thought and affable than Hill's motormouth skills emanating from "Superbad" and then some.

- Russell Brand? As Aldous Snow? Yeah, he's great. He's awesome. He's really funny. 'Nuff Said.

- The biggest and most enjoyable surprise from "Greek" is Diddy as Jonah Hill's boss. Jeez-ass! He's tears this shit up. Either it's his propensity for drawing attention to himself, or real life experience influencing the performance, but Diddy knows how to be funny, weird-ass record executive and draw you to him. Whether he's making fun of Pharrell, rubbing fuzzy walls or "mindfucking" Jonah Hill, Diddy brings the goods. Even if he really didn't have to.

- The script really needed a re-write. The story is simple, and sound — put two opposites together and give them a trip. But, man, some scenes and dialogue should have been cut — like the odd three-way and Jonah Hill explaining to Snow that "people love" him.

- Nicholas Stoller has improved as a director since "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," the truly mediocre rom-com. Maybe it's because he's working with his own material, but Stoller has the potential to be a stylish and competent director of mass appeal comedies. With better soundtracks than Todd Phillips!

In the end, I'm glad I saw it. Jessica was too. We dug it. We didn't need much from it. We laughed at it.

So go see it! Uh, duh?