Forgetting Sarah Marshall

by KYW's Bill Wine

Like a relaxed and open-to-anything vacationer going with the flow, Forgetting Sarah Marshall nearly forgets to tend to the business of telling its story. Of course, sometimes (and this is one of those times) just having a few laughs is enough.

This likable, rebounding-from-a-breakup comedy stars Jason Segel, who also wrote the script, as Peter, a songwriter manchild who is devastated when his girlfriend, the star of the TV series for whom he works as a composer -- played by Kristen Bell (TV's "Veronica Mars") -- dumps him.

It's not so easy to recover and start over when the woman you're trying to forget is all over billboards and magazine covers as a TV icon. And just when you think the healing process couldn't get worse, it does.

Still reeling, Peter takes his broken heart on a vacation to Hawaii, and who should turn up at the posh Turtle Bay Resort where he's staying but his ex and her new boyfriend, a self-absorbed British rock star played by Russell Brand.

(This is, of course, an odds-defying coincidence, but the script races past it like a desperate shopper at a clearance sale.)

This means Peter will be confronted by one awkward and painful experience after another for his entire stay. Fortunately, he is somewhat consoled by the friendship and tentative romance he strikes up with the hotel's concierge, played by Mila Kunis (of TV's "That '70s Show"). Then, inevitably, his ex starts looking over her shoulder at him with rekindled interest.

What to do?

Debuting director Nicholas Stoller is a bit too forgiving of Jason Segel's slacker of a screenplay, which meanders when it should at least trot. But there's charm and humor throughout, much of it aggressively R-rated.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall mixes sweetness and raunch in the style of the spate of recent comedies from producer Judd Apatow's comedy empire. And while it doesn't measure up to the best Apatow offerings, such as The 40-Year-Old Virgin or Superbad, it is on a par with, say, Knocked Up, which likewise has its ups and downs but also has its well-worth-waiting-for comic moments.

With supporting comic contributions from familiar faces like Paul Rudd as a surfing instructor, Jonah Hill as a waiter, Jack McBrayer as a honeymooner, and Bill Hader as Peter's stepbrother, and cameos by the likes of Jason Bateman and William Baldwin, Forgetting Sarah Marshall remains a fun ride, if a sputtering one at times.

But it's the film's signature highlights, designed to be outrageous and memorable and laugh-out-loud funny (and are), that will have viewers talking on the way out. They involve showing us two things we don't often see on the mainstream movie screen: a guy crying and the full monty, not necessarily in that order or at the same time. And both bits not only get laughs but pointedly underscore the protagonist's vulnerability.

Unlikely leading man Segel is certainly up to the task at hand -- and does indeed let it all hang out -- but he never stops seeming like a valuable member of an ensemble who's been handed the lead in someone else's sudden absence. My guess is that he'll soon return to being a valuable utility player in ensemble comedies.

The real revelation here is the dazzling Mila Kunis, whose face the camera loves and who exhibits real presence in her remarkably assured performance. Watch her star rise in a hurry.

So we'll remember 2½ stars out of 4 for this overly casual but nonetheless entertaining Hawaiian-vacation comedy, Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Life's a beach, and then you laugh.

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KYW Movie Podcasts: Hear Every One!

Yada Yada Movies - Weekend of 11/06/09
This week KYW's Steve Nikazy and KYW movie critic Bill Wine look at the comedy-war film, "The Men Who Stare at Goats," the animated re-make, "A Christmas Carol," and the horror-mystery-thriller "The Fourth Kind." (18:45)

Movie Reviews - Week of 11/2/09
KYW movie critic Bill Wine gives his thoughts on the movies "The Men Who Stare at Goats", "A Christmas Carol" and "The Fourth Kind". (3:01)

Yada Yada Movies - Weekend of 10/30/09
KYW's Steve Nikazy and KYW movie critic Bill Wine take a look at the Chris Rock documentary, "Good Hair," Michael Jackson's "This is It," and the action-crime-drama "The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day." (17:43)

Movie Reviews - Week of 10/26/09
KYW movie critic Bill Wine gives his thoughts on the movies "Good Hair", "This Is It" and "Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day". (3:00)

Yada Yada Movies - Weekend of 10/23/09
KYW's Steve Nikazy and KYW movie critic Bill Wine take a look at the animated adventure "Astro Boy," the bio-drama"Amelia," and the action-adventure-comedy "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant." (17:20)

Movie Reviews - Week of 10/19/09
KYW movie critic Bill Wine gives his thoughts on the movies "Astro Boy", "Amelia" and "Cirque du Freak - The Vampires Assistant". (3:00)

Movie Reviews - Week of 10/12/09
KYW movie critic Bill Wine gives his thoughts on the movies 'New York, I Love You', 'Law Abiding Citizen' and 'Where the Wild Things Are'. (3:00)

Yada Yada Movies - Weekend of 10/09/09
KYW's Steve Nikazy and KYW movie critic Bill Wine take a look at Michael Moore's "Capitalism: A Love Story," the comedy "Couple's Retreat," and the drama, "The Boys Are Back." (19:23)

Movie Reviews - Week of 10/5/09
KYW movie critic Bill Wine gives his thoughts on the movies "Capitalism: A Love Story", "Couples Retreat" and "The Boys Are Back ". (2:57)