Forgetting Sarah Marshall Movie Review
By Jason Revill
Well, ladies and gentleman it’s another week and another film has come out with Judd Apatow’s name all over it. I’m beginning to be hard pressed to remember a movie that wasn’t written, directed or produced by the man. He directed Michael Clayton, right? Some of the best advice I’ve ever gotten was from a British craps dealer on a boat to the Bahamas who kept yelling at me to “Parlay! Parlay!” Apatow seems to have met the same guy. With every success he’s taken his cache and put it back in, so that he can further his winnings. By now I imagine in what little free time he has he swims through his money like Scrooge McDuck. With that being said, it’s not as though it isn’t money well earned and Forgetting Sarah Marshall is another example of why he’s the funniest guy around.
After being dumped by his television star girlfriend, Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), Peter Bretter (Jason Segel) falls into a deep rut. On the advice of his brother-in-law (Bill Hader) Peter tries to get back out in the world, but after having some disastrous hook-ups he gives up and decides the best thing for him to do would be to take a vacation and get away from his troubles. Against his better judgment, he makes up his mind to go to Hawaii, more specifically a resort that Sarah had always wanted them to visit. Unfortunately for Peter, it seems that Sarah had the same idea, but she’s doing it with her new boyfriend, the world famous rock star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand). Unwilling to shrink away and hide under a rock, Peter decides to stay at the resort. Luckily for him, he’s able to find some support in his misery with the other guests and staff, especially the easy going front desk clerk, Rachel (Mila Kunis).
It’s kind of amazing that Jason Segel is able to take a guy who could have been annoying and turn him into a hilarious lead character. His ability to take his heartbreak and make it into something that is comical instead of whiny is a credit not only to his ability as a leading man, but his writing skill. It doesn’t hurt that he is backed by a terrific supporting cast that is almost perfect. Kristen Bell is great as Segel’s ex, but really shines in clips from her television show. Even as a person who used to watch That 70s Show, I never realized how much the camera loves Mila Kunis. She is absolutely gorgeous on the big screen and is perfect as the down to Earth love interest. Now as good as this cast is, the scene stealer is Russell Brand as Kristen Bell’s new rock star boyfriend, Aldous Snow. He’s creepily oversexed while spouting off Bono level crap philosophy.
Even the bit actors like Jack McBrayer who is essentially doing the same shtick he does on 30 Rock (television’s best comedy), but with the ability to be a bit raunchier is hilarious. Jonah Hill is doing some of his best work to date and, quite frankly, is much funnier than he was in Super Bad. Playing the brother-in-law back on the mainland who is ready with a great one-liner via telephone or computer is the always funny and underused Bill Hader. The only place where there was a bit of a miscast was with Paul Rudd as a stoned surf instructor. Generally, I love Rudd, but after he’s on screen for ten seconds the joke has pretty much worn thin.
With Apatow’s success has come some criticism that the his movies are full of good looking, shrill female characters, while the men are lovable losers who just have to be funny to get the girl. I sort of find this to be wrong headed in that the assumption is that it’s alright for the guys to be losers in the first place. One of the things I really enjoyed about this movie was that no one is perfect. Sure Sarah wasn’t a good girlfriend, but Peter was just as bad a boyfriend. Each was as much to blame for the slow erosion of their relationship. Hell, even Aldous isn’t quite the walking hard-on he appears to be at first, although he pretty much is.
As funny as it is, Forgetting Sarah Marshall isn’t perfect. There are laughs from beginning to end, but there isn’t that series of two or three jokes that really put you over nor does it come to any real climax. The puppet show based on Dracula that is meant to be that climax is not nearly as funny as the filmmakers apparently thought it was; leaving us with essentially the same penis gag that starts the film as the thing we go out on. Maybe with some tighter direction from Nicholas Stoller, this movie could have developed a better rhythm so that the laughter builds in a more satisfying way. The only other criticism would be that maybe Apatow ought to be wary of how many more films he makes where a schlub who generally plays a second banana is trying to win the affection of the gorgeous woman that’s out of his league.
Look, Judd Apatow’s name is on more film than Kodak, but there’s a reason for it. The guy makes funny movies. Forgetting Sarah Marshall may not be as well rounded as The 40 Year Old Virgin or Knocked Up, but it’s got more laughs per minute than Superbad or Walk Hard (although that movie is funnier than it got credit for being). So where does that put it? It’s right in the middle of some of the best comedies to come out in the last several years and one of those is one of the best ever. Forgetting Sarah Marshall is without a doubt funny, just not classic funny.
The Grade
- Story: B
- Acting: A
- Visuals: B
- Originality: B+
- Enjoyability: A
- Overall: B+
Click here to view the film's trailer
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