CAST

Jason Segel ... Peter Bretter
Kristen Bell ... Sarah Marshall
Mila Kunis ... Rachel Jansen
Russell Brand ... Aldous Snow

Running time: 1 hr 50 mins
Release Date: 25/04/08

Directed by: Nicholas Stoller


Forgetting Sarah Marshall is the latest film from, what can only be described as, the stable of Hollywood mogul Judd Apatow. For the past 5 years there has been a steady stream of Apatow's films coming at us with varying degrees of success, the last great one being Knocked Up.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall isn't perfect, but it's quite good. Following the tested principle of having a less than remarkable hero, Peter (played by Jason Segel) and involved with an appearantly-out-of-his-league woman (Kristen Bell), the story follows their break-up and his attempts to get over her. With hilarious consequncess, of course. He spends the first 20 minutes of the film breaking down and crying (much funnier than you might expect), then decides to take a trip to Hawaii to forget her - and ends up in the same hotel as her and her new squeeze, an English rock star played by Russell Brand.
 
The script is quite witty and clever as we've come to expect from green lights given by Apatow. There are as many hidden or unmentioned jokes as there are belly laughs, which is nice. And although the plot might be mildly predictable, it's still a very real love story with some very real jokes that make the whole episode much more enjoyable than the average romantic comedy. Russell Brand is the surprise of the week, playing his usually larger-than-life self in a comparitively understated. He is, shockingly, not only a powerful competitor to Peter but also a very likeable guy - which make the whole question of who too root for much less cut and dry than usual! #

The supporting cast of Apatow stock characters are in show and you'll recognise familiar faces which adds to the general feelgood factor of the Hawaii setting and will leave you smiling even while not laughing.
 
Considering the rubbish being pumped upon couples these days, Apatow has continued with the winning formula of a romantic comedy that men won't mind having to see. It's not going to change your life but it will make you laugh and smile for 2 hours more than you would have without it, which is definatley something. As long as you can stomach the generous, if funny, amount of screen time given to Segel's "bits", that is.
 
James Looney