The Clarion

Issue date: 4/29/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: courtesty of Universal Pictures Jason Segel stars as Peter (left), Kristen Bell stars as Sarah (right) and Russel Brand stars as Aldous in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." [Click to enlarge]

Judd Apatow and his motley crew are quickly proving themselves to be unstoppable juggernauts of comedy.

Smash hits such as "Knocked Up" and "Superbad" have proven that these guys know the genre and are fully capable of dominating it. But does their latest film, "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," deliver the same hilarious experience we have come to expect?

The story follows Peter Bretter (Jason Segel), a moderately successful composer for a TV cop drama, that stars his beautiful and talented girlfriend Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell). Everything seems to be going right for Peter, until five minutes into the movie when Sarah dumps him...while he is naked.

On the advice of his stepbrother Brian, the heartbroken Peter, opts to forget about Sarah on a beach in Hawaii. Unfortunately, Sarah had the same idea. Peter ends up at the same resort as his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend, Brit-rocker Aldous Snow (Russel Brand).

But there happens to be a new girl in Peter's life too, the shapely and friendly Rachel Jansen (Mila Kunis) who works the front desk at the resort. The combination proves ripe for hijinks, which ensue post-haste.

The film's star, Segel, wrote the screenplay, his first, and newcomer Nicholas Stoller directed. Their relative inexperience in both fields unfortunately reflects itself rather clearly in the first 20 minutes of the film. Early scenes drag a bit, opting for line after line of serious dialogue instead of the rapid-fire joke telling that made previous Apatow productions so successful. Thankfully, this gives way to a more familiar pace once the action moves to Hawaii.

The casting was brilliant. Segel's character Peter fits him like a glove. Bell and Kunis play effective romantic foils, being both hostile and sympathetic to one another's causes in various and amusing ways. Brand is a hilarious combination of pompous, clueless and friendly that not many actors could pull off.

Playing smaller parts are a number of Apatow's regulars. Paul Rudd makes an appearance as the cheery but unhelpful stoner surf instructor Chuck, and Jonah Hill makes an appearance as Matthew the waiter, who has a big-boy crush on Aldous Snow, one which ends up generating one of the funniest performances in the film.

Ultimately, "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" ends up following the standard romantic-comedy formula. Boy loses girl, boy finds new girl, hijinks ensue...you know the drill. The film falls just shy of the standard set by past Apatow mega-hits, but it comes close enough to merit a look.

Overall rating: 4 out of 5 Boones

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