If you're like me, that's too bad. But seriously, if you're like me, you're not exactly sure how to feel about Russell Brand, the British comedian who seems to fancy himself a 21st-century libertine, yet often comes across as an attention-starved fop. Lately more famous for being rather than doing, the undeniably talented Brand first earned notice stateside in 2008's dirty-sweet "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" when he stole scenes as Aldous Snow, the pompous rock star with flickers of hidden wisdom. Brand resurrects Aldous for a central role in director Nicholas Stoller's follow-up "Get Him To The Greek," a conventional but still amiably filthy bromance that tags along as overgrown boys mature just enough for it to barely count as character development.

"Get Him To The Greek" is the task assigned to Aaron Green (Jonah Hill, strangely not reprising his character from "Forgetting Sarah Marshall"), a record-company underling trying to climb the corporate ladder. Aaron's idea is to stage a comeback concert featuring Aldous, whose recent relapse into substance addiction was brought upon by the utter flop of his last single, the hilariously smug "African Child," which came in third (following famine and war) as "the thing most damaging to African life." It's Aaron's job to make sure Aldous arrives at the gig in one sober-ish piece, and the film ticks off the 72 hours Aaron has been allotted to escort his tricky charge from London to a date with the "Today" show in New York, then on to the sold-out Greek Theater in Los Angeles.

Nothing goes as planned, of course, and what Aaron hoped would be a quick hop across the pond to jumpstart his music-industry career and meet an idol becomes a spectacularly debauched cavalcade of drugs, booze, and sluts. (Plus geysers of vomit.) And just so we don't immediately dismiss Aldous and Aaron as self-serving cajoler and spineless enabler - which they are, actually - it's made clear that both men are licking romantic wounds, with the occasional heart-to-heart talk wafting through the weedy haze. A road movie strung together by good-natured cameos (NBC's Meredith Vieira classily reacts to faux puke, while Metallica's Lars Ulrich endures yet another Napster crack), "Get Him To The Greek" does drag a bit after the midpoint as Aaron gets sucked into the clichéd rock-and-roll lifestyle, but the stopover in Vegas sets everything right.

The madcap Sin City interlude is where we get confirmation that "Get Him To The Greek" has been officially saved by Sean Combs as Sergio, Aaron's profanely bossy boss. While the reliable Hill does his usual awkward, stammering thing, and Brand successfully fleshes out his one-time supporting character into a deeply flawed charmer who seems redeemable nonetheless, it's Combs who owns the picture. Something about Stoller's imperfect yet observant script must have clicked with Combs, usually unburdened by any sort of charisma but losing himself with abandon in what evolves into a shockingly slapsticky role. Yeah, the final act inevitably resorts to mawkish resolution that may not be entirely earned, but you'll probably still be giggling over the sight of Combs smashing a lava lamp over the head of the recognizable Irish character actor Colm Meaney as Aldous's no-good father. That's not a sentence I ever anticipated writing, which is why I still love movies.