I wasn't necessarily disappointed, but this spin-off is average at best

Rating: 5/10 (18 October 2010)

The film starts off funny and lays down some character development.
P-Diddy was one of the highlights of the film with his 'do-whatever-it-takes' role as a record label exec/ceo. You can tell that this was familiar territory for the anal-retentive-superstar who truly does act like he is above everything else in true life.
There are many funny moments in the first hour of this film, and most of those moments center around Aldous Snow(Russell Brand). From his ridiculous lyrics, to his falling-off the wagon, Snow really is the glue that keeps this together early. I was slightly disappointed in Jonah Hill's character. In Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Hill was completely convincing as an over-zealous Aldous Snow fan, but here his obsession with Snow and Infinite Sorrow is understated and under-developed. There could be an explanation for this. Aldous' latest album 'African Child' was an awful, critically bashed piece of junk that could turn away any music fan, but we still don't see the fanaticism from Hill that we expected coming out of 'Marshall'.
There is a major flaw with this film.
The relationship between Hill's character and his long-time girlfriend is shallow, and that shallowness really disintegrates the ending of the film. We're left to feel something for these two, and ultimately, Hill's character should have just kicked her to the curb.
The last thirty minutes is painful to watch. The best thing about this film is the relationship between Hill and Brand. The film spends enough time showing us that their girlfriends are shallow and unlikable - so it makes no sense whatsoever when the film abandons the concentration on the friendship between Hill and Brand, in favor of rekindling the unlikable relationships with their girlfriends. We were having fun when they were single. We wanted to see Brand and Hill ride off into the sunset smoking a Jeffrey - instead we get back to what they both ran away from, terrible relationships with unlikable women.
Serious but also meaningless spoiler alert!!!! When the end of the film shows us that Hill followed his shallow girlfriend to Seattle - it completely undermines the entire film. Awful ending!
49/100
You'll MIGHT like it if you liked: I Love You Man, Bachelor Party 2, Weekend at Bernies, and The Great Outdoors.