Forgetting Sarah Marshall

I greatly respect Richard Roeper's opinions when it comes to movies, so when he stated that Forgetting Sarah Marshall is one of the best comedies of all time, I knew I had to check it out. Produced by Judd Apatow, and starring the writer/member of Apatow's crew - Jason Segel in a surprisingly strong performance, Sarah Marshall is a feel good comedy with some great roles and no self-deprecating cliches that would have absolutely spoiled the ambiance.

Segel is an unapologetic everyman who despite his character flaws, is quite funny and likable. His girlfriend (Kristin Bell) breaks up with him, and to deal with the pain, he takes a vacation to Hawaii where he runs into none other than... you guessed it; his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend, played exceptionally by the relatively unknown British star Russell Brand, who is a pompous rock star with a narcissist complex.

The rest of the cast is typical of Apatow films, and hilarious. Bill Hader plays the brother-in-law, Jonah Hill and Paul Rudd play hotel staff members with some good lines, Mila Kunis gives a compelling performance showing off range well beyond that of the one-liners she delivered on That 70's Show or the dreadful straight to video garbage that she's been in. The best supporting role however belongs to Jack McBrayer, aka "Kenneth" from 30 Rock. He adeptly plays a honeymooner with religious morality issues that interfere with his sexual abilities. The icing on the cake however (for me), was a cameo by none other than Jason Bateman. He is comedy perfection and the film couldn't have ended on a better note.

There were some trademark crude sexual references, some odd original music in the form of a rock opera, and Brand's pop music that is almost catchy in its double entendre-filled nonsense. The crudest gross-out attempt is the full-frontal male nudity that was really not as funny as it was probably intended. Overall it was not as offensive as Superbad, but was more on par with the 40 Year Old Virgin.

First time director Nicholas Stoller, who is undoubtedly a part of Apatow's crew, did a fine job, but really didn't show any remarkable skill. The majority of the film (which did run a bit too long) took place at a beautiful resort on a Hawaiian beach. To his credit, there were no flashy segues or fade-outs, and although music was an integral part of the film, it was not used as a comic device or substitute for the character development.

It was a very entertaining film for the most part. Admittedly, I got a little tired of it after about an hour and a half, it just went on for too long. Most of the jokes came in the first half of the film, and the star power carried the second half. There was a feeling of resolution at the end, but the rock opera thing just didn't jive with me. I disagree with Richard Roeper, this was not an exceptionally great film. It was unfortunately pretty average. Good acting all around, good comedy and story, and some nice scenery, 7/10.