Forgetting Sarah Marshall Review
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Directed by: Nicholas Stoller
Written by: Jason Segel
Starring: Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Bill Hader, Russell Brand, Jonah Hill, Paul Rudd
The Judd Apatow show continues to roll along with another “heartfelt” frat boy comedy starring many of the same faces we know from The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up and Superbad. But with Judd Apatow only producing, rather than writing or directing, can Forgetting Sarah Marshall continue the streak of comedy hits, or does it simply water down the Apatow brand?
For people who are mostly familiar with Apatow’s filmography rather than his previous TV shows Freaks & Geeks and Undeclared, Jason Segel may seem like an unlikely candidate to be the headlining star of a movie, and may even cast some initial doubt on the quality of the flick. Certainly Steve Carell and Seth Rogen are nowhere to be found, but then again, Rogen wasn’t a huge star before Knocked Up either. I think Segel could very well end up following in his footsteps, because he has written a very funny movie here, and turned in a performance that showcases his comedic talents perfectly.
In both Freaks & Geeks and Undeclared, Segel had roles as the creepy and obsessive ex-boyfriend, and he played them brilliantly. In this movie, he takes on a similar role, although his character is a little less pathetic and a lot easier to cheer for. He works as a composer for TV shows, and he is dating Sarah Marshall, a hot young actress in a CSI knockoff called simply “Crime Scene: Scene of the Crime”. One day she comes home and breaks up with him, informing him that she has found another man. He falls into a deep depression, and at the urging of his friend, he decides to head to Hawaii for a vacation. Of course, as luck would have it, he ends up staying at the same resort where Sarah Marshall is with her new beau, rock star Aldous Snow.
Although I was a bit sure what to expect with Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I’m happy to report that it is a solid comedy with a lot of great laughs to be had. It seemed like one of those movies where the few funny parts may have already been spoiled in the trailers, but in typical Apatow fashion there are numerous characters and scenes that continue to delight well beyond the obvious and expected gags. That said, not everything in the movie was hilarious, and indeed some of the jokes were a little too broad for my taste (the religious newlyweds were kind of lame), but that’s exactly why I think this movie is a crowd pleaser, and one that should satisfy just about everyone.
The movie starts off a little slow, and it did feel at times like maybe it was lacking an extra supporting character (perhaps Bill Hader should have been on the trip with him instead of just talking over a webcam occasionally). Jonah Hill’s performance as a creepy waiter had potential but never really delivered any great lines, while Russell Brand’s performance as the British rocker doesn’t truly pick up until the second half of the film. Paul Rudd’s surfer dude, on the other hand, had me chuckling almost every time he was on screen.
As for Jason Segel, I thought he carried the film quite well for the most part. Strangely, parts of his performance reminded me of a more subtle and less obnoxious Tom Green. Take that as you will, but his freak out moments were always comedy gold, and he maintained a certain level of unpredictability throughout. There was also the shock value of going full frontal, but playing it off in a way that seemed completely innocent. Maybe it just had something to do with the fact that he seemed a bit out of place among all the other beautiful people on screen (which actually adds to his charm). The whole puppet show musical at the end was an amazing set piece and provided a great finale (and also a possible gig doing a new Muppets movie… go figure).
Most importantly though, this movie was able to make you relate to the characters despite their exaggerated personalities, and balanced just the right level of emotion to make it something more than just a dumb comedy. Maybe you’re sick of hearing people praise Judd Apatow’s movies for having heart, but it’s the truth. I give a lot of credit to Mila Kunis, who I never really liked on That 70’s Show, but who is so sweet in this movie that she completely sells you on his new relationship.
So yeah, Forgetting Sarah Marshall isn’t quite on the same level as Knocked Up or Superbad, but it’s not that far off either. I still give it a strong recommendation, and I hope to see more of Segel on screen soon, although at this point I have a hard time picturing him in any other role. — Sean
SCORE: 
Recommended If You Like: Knocked Up, Superbad, Freddy Got Fingered
Comments (11)
I like all the Apatow movies, directed and produced, but with the exception of Superbad none of them really have much style in the technical department. As in they are filmed like they were a tv show, nothing daring or unique. Not that style is always needed, it’s just not there at all…no big deal.
My real problem is the use of painful modern references…like do we need a Flavor of Love joke in this movie, did we constantly need to hear the characters talk about Spiderman 3 in knocked up…and if you can be cool and make up store names like SmarTech in 40yearoldvirgin, why cant you do the same for eBay?
I’m not uber passionate about this, I just prefer when films attempt to be timeless…in defense of the other side I can agree that some are not trying to do so.
Posted by Bob the Slob on April 20th, 2008There is an insane amount of pop-culture references in 40year Old Virgin and Knocked Up, and while it did bother me in the former, in the latter it seemed less of a problem. I think it’s a case of just buying into the story and makes you more forgiveable to easy shit like that. I can’t even say I minded the Spider-Man 3 stuff, because Jason Segel was such a twisted, smarmy cock in that flick, that his constant mentioning of the film felt more like an insulting joke than anything else. Also James Franco was in Knocked Up (he was awesome by the way, as he was in Spider-Man 3).
I am sort of looking forward to this film. I wonder if it’ll get a theatrical release here.
Posted by Henrik on April 20th, 2008I’m not dissagreeing with you, and maybe your right…maybe I just hated Spidey 3 so much that it bothered me.
Posted by Bob the Slob on April 20th, 2008You do have a point Bob… this kind of stuff tends to bother me too, but I think certain pop culture references work if they are universal enough. The whole CSI parody worked because CSI is so well-known that it’s not necessarily going to date the movie, but the Flavor of Love thing was just a throwaway one-liner that didn’t need to be there anyway.
Posted by Sean on April 20th, 2008“Pretend like you are David Caruso in Jade” is for me, a batshit funny movie line. Other than that, I’m pretty luke-warm on the whole Apatow thing. Most of them are pretty throwaway guy-fantasy stuff. Why are all these hot, smart and together women continually slumming it with Seth Rogan et. al?
Too many too fast, I generally only catch 1 in 3. That being said, I’m pretty excited about the David Gordon Green directed Pineapple Express..
Zero interest in Sarah Marshall, even when it has Ms. Veronica Mars in a major role.
Posted by kurt on April 20th, 2008Kurt, no guy fantasy involves getting a girl pregnant after a one night stand. Or being a 40 year old virgin.
Super Bad (the best one), I will give you.
Posted by Rusty James on April 20th, 2008Just saw this and loved it, especially Jason Segal’s performance. The Flavor of Love reference didn’t bother me, maybe because it felt natural. I didn’t notice a whole lot of pop culture references in this movie.
Posted by Joel on April 20th, 2008Knocked Up is the best one, and it is sexist. I mean a careerwoman looking like Katherine Heigl would surely have friends other than her sister, or maybe even an apartment? But I don’t really care about it, because the characters are so likable that it’s a very comfortable watch whatever the politics.
Posted by Henrik on April 21st, 2008I haven’t seen this movie yet (had to watch Harold & Kumar first!), but apparently all the real “Sarah Marshalls” are pissed with the ad campaign and are lashing back!
http://bigpicture.fancast.com/2008/04/fancast_feature_sarah_marshall.html
Posted by Fancast.Gal on April 27th, 2008I just saw this and was surprised how much I liked it. I think you guys sold it short on your podcast review.
Posted by Rusty James on May 23rd, 2008I think it’s still the best comedy to come out so far this year, but we’ll have to see how it stands up to repeat viewings.
Posted by Sean on May 23rd, 2008Leave a Reply