Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Review By Matthew Rodgers

It’s hard to avoid being formulaic in such a saturated genre as the rom-com, it’s even more difficult when a film producers name becomes a brand (double entendre there!) in itself, as is the case with any title labeled “From the guys that bought you Knocked Up and Superbad”, meaning Judd Apatow and his nerd herd. So it’s with invigorating results that scriptwriter, Apatow alumni and leading man, Jason Segal decides that there is very little he can do to avoid cliché and comparison (Ben Stiller dud The Heartbreak Kid being the obvious one) and embraces it using a world filled with “real” and “believable” characters making this a sweet natured film that hammers the funny bone and the heart in equal measures.

The titular Sarah Marshall (Kirstin Bell – TV’s Heroes) dumps the completely naked Peter (Jason Segal – Knocked UP) by way of our introduction to the story. So what you say? Well, the fact that he is completely naked and in tears in front of his long-time girlfriend and smash-hit TV star in a startling display of emotion that will strike a chord with anyone on the receiving end of such heartbreak makes sure that FSM hits the laugh counter early on and never lets up. To make things worse in order to get over the split Peter heads to a Hawaiian retreat that unbeknownst to him is currently inhabited by his object of unrequited love and her British rock star boyfriend Aldous Snow (Russell Brand).

The set-pieces are understated but hilarious – Peter’s Vampire opera deserves to appear in full length on the DVD release – and its credit to director Nicolas Stoller that he doesn’t rely on these to drive his film.

Instead it’s up to the roll call of superb performances and FSM is full of break-out turns; Segal is fabulous as the likeable sad-sack and Mila Kunis (astonishingly, Meg from Family Guy) is just adorably cute. Add to this the presence of Apatow stalwarts’ Paul Rudd and Jonah Hill who are respectively brilliant in smaller roles. The undeniable star though has to be Blighty’s very own red-top lothario Russell Brand who steals almost every scene he appears in. Forget the preconceptions bought to the role by his off-screen personality because even if it can only be loosely termed “acting” Brand brings a charming presence to Snow that not only shines in such bravado moments as comedy ballad “Inside of You” but brings a winning human side to the love-rival character that’s usually scripted as pantomime villain.

Ignoring the bound to be oft-used “Sarah Marshall is hard to forget” quote that will adorn every poster, its best applied to the largest disappointment of the movie, Sarah Marshall herself. For anyone that saw the now defunct Veronica Mars TV show will know that Kirsten Bell is a fantastic actress who is given very little to do here but wear a pink bikini. She has indeed been forgotten.

Another certifiable hit after the lamentable Drillbit Taylor and criminally ignored Walk Hard, FSM is a break-up to make-up sex-comedy that is rarely vulgar and wholeheartedly good-natured with its bittersweet laughs.