2008 Movie #5: Forgetting Sarah Marshall

It's too bad that most of the talk surrounding "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" focuses on the nudity from star and writer Jason Segel. Segel deserves notice, but more for the fact that his first produced script became a movie this funny, sweet and quotable.


These three components should surprise no one, given that the film is the latest from Judd Apatow's gang, which has made its living creating films that combine those three elements. But all are definitely there, and while the film might never reach the emotional complexity of "Knocked Up," it is still better than any of the other films I've seen in the theater from this year.

After Segel's Peter Bretter gets dumped in humiliating fashion by his girlfriend Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell of "Veronica Mars" fame), an actress on a CSI-like crime procedural for which Peter writes the score, the hreat-broken sad-sack decides he needs a vacation. Unfortunately for him, he's decided to stay at the same Hawaiian resort where his ex is staying with her new boyfriend. In the midst of this awkwardness, Peter begins to move on with the help of a beautiful hotel employee played by "That '70s Show" alum Mila Kunis.

If the film has a flaw, it's that Kunis' Rachel Jansen isn't really fleshed out well enough to give the romance with Segel's Peter the emotional weight that has distinguished some of the Apatow gang's prior efforts (See Catherine Keener in "40 Year Old Virgin" or Katherine Heigl in "Knocked Up") . While this might keep the film from being a comedic classic, Segel deserves a lot of credit, both for crafting a script with this many laughs and for infusing his characters with a lot of humanity. In other films, Bell's titular Sarah Marshall might have been nothing more than the evil ex who broke Peter's heart. While some of her actions might be indefensible, the movie makes many of them understandable, and you can definitely understand how the two of them were once in love. Brand's over-sexed rocker boyfriend, as over-the-top as he gets, proves himself more than just a walking punchline.

And, as always, members of the Apatow gang create some really funny bit parts, most notably Bill Hader as Peter's step-brother and friend. The exchanges between the two are among the film's funniest moments.

"Forgetting Sarah Marshall" proved to be the first movie this year that I really didn't have to say "I kind of liked it, but ..." This is the early No. 1 for 2008.