- Rated R
- Comedy
- 2008
All photos © Universal Pictures
Reviewed by Jason Zingale
(jzingale@bullz-eye.com)
n case you didn’t hear, it’s good to have friends in high places. For Jason Segel, that friend just happens to be Judd Apatow. After transforming Seth Rogen into a leading man with “Knocked Up” and catapulting director Jake Kasdan into the big leagues with “Walk Hard,” the next logical choice for promotion amongst the Apatow disciples was Segel. It just so happens that Segel is also the most talented of the trio, and though his new film “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” never quite attains the same comedic excellence of past Apatow joints (“The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” “Superbad”), it’s still a solid rom-com that is sure to gain a dedicated following of its own.
Jason Segel plays Peter Bretter, a struggling musician who makes his living scoring a popular television crime drama starring up-and-coming actress Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell). Sarah also happens to be Peter’s longtime girlfriend – which makes the fact that he doesn’t like his job a little more bearable – but when she suddenly breaks up with him one day, Peter flies to Hawaii to escape his surroundings. When he arrives, he’s surprised to discover that Sarah is vacationing at the same resort with her new boyfriend, eccentric Brit rocker Aldous Snow (Russell Brand). Determined to make the best of his stay, Peter finds company in a free-spirited hotel receptionist (Mila Kunis), much to the dismay of a now-jealous Sarah.
Like every other Apatow production, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” is about 20 minutes too long. Unfortunately, it’s more evident here than in the past because you’re not as busy laughing. Segel’s script has more character development than it probably needs, and though the funny moments are really funny, they also come few and far between from what Apatow fans have come to expect. Additionally, Segel isn’t a very convincing leading man, and though he’s a much better actor than guys like Rogen, he just doesn’t have the kind of charisma one needs to carry an entire film. Sure, the lovelorn loser shtick (which he perfected on “Freaks & Geeks” and “Undeclared”) is Segel's bread-and-butter, but audiences can only sympathize with that kind of character for so long before it gets annoying.
Thank God, then, for Russell Brand and Mila Kunis. As the respective love interests of Sarah and Peter, they do just enough with their limited screen time to save the entire film from dipping into mediocrity. Brand (who could easily join Simon Pegg and Sacha Baron Cohen at the forefront of the British comedy invasion), steals the show as the straight-talking rocker, while Kunis proves that it takes a very special actress to outshine Kristen Bell. The latter may be enjoying her current status as the ultimate fanboy fantasy, but Kunis wipes the floor with her here, and she does so looking ten times hotter. I’ve never given the former “That ‘70s Show” star much credit in the past, but she’s definitely got what it takes to make it in the business.
Also delivering great support is Bill Hader as Peter’s step-brother/best friend, but that’s where the good fortune ends. Paul Rudd is entirely hit-and-miss as a clueless surf shop owner, Jack McBrayer is featured in a pointless subplot as a sexually incompetent vacationer, and Jonah Hill continues to reach new heights of overexposure as the island’s wacky waiter. Had Judd Apatow not been so concerned with hooking his buddies up with supporting roles, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” might have been funnier. Of course, the film's problems go a lot deeper than that, and though the audience is treated to an über-cool payoff in the end courtesy of the Jim Henson Company, it’s a simple case of too little too late.
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