FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL

Nicholas Stoller Written by: Jason Segel Starring: Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Russell Brand, Bill Hader, Liz Cackowski, Maria Thayer, Jonah Hill, Paul Rudd Distributed by Universal Pictures Film will be released on Friday 18th April 2008 in the U.S. and Friday 25th April 2008 in the U.K. Review by Michael Edwards

rating: 3.5

Yet another Apatow comedy, with the now standard accomplices, has popped up to grace our screens. This one continues the trend in contrived set-piece comedy based around crude and persistent jokes, but lacks the witty core concept of movies like The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up. Instead, much like Superbad we have a formulaic movie that does little to bust the genre, in this case a break-up, rediscovering yourself plotline centred around Peter Bretter (played by writer Jason Segel) who is decides to go to a resort in Hawaii to get over his erstwhile girlfriend Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), little knowing that she is already at the resort with her new boyfriend (Russell Brand) already doting on her. We have yet another irksome example of a writer drawing on his own life to source characters, with Peter and Sarah both being in the media industry as score composer and actress respectively in a tacky tv-drama to cope with, but it is far less cumbersome than in some movies as here it fits with the flagrant self-conscious tone of the film. It's a re-hash of a standard plot format and doesn't try to hide from it - which refreshingly allows the audience to enjoy the ridiculously low-brow zany humour without having a concept or an 'angle' rammed down your throat. More than this, the predictability of the story plays into the hands of the disruptive jump cuts, flashbacks and flash forwards to crazy, contradictory or just plain outrageous memories and events that provide the bulk of the gags. A friendly chef asking Peter to help 'prepare the pig' for the barbecue cuts to Peter wielding a knife and chasing a pig screaming "I'm so sorry", Peter claiming he has at least ruined his ex-girlfriend's day cuts instantly to her in the throes of a pretty acrobatic 'passionate embrace' with her new man, and so on. As a result you quickly forget that the story is dull and just enjoy the barrage of visual gags hurled from the screen. In terms of the acting, in a film where comic timing is of the essence it was surprising to see the comic material spread so liberally among the cast. Relative newcomer Jason Segel fares well as the loveably ordinary everyman Peter and Brand delivers his witty one-liners and tailor-made verbose witticisms with remarkable reserve which makes his character seem remarkably natural, even when the scene demanded the tricky enactment of a semi-drowned man begging for the removal of a chunk of coral lodged in his leg! Kunis and Bell have less work to do with their objectified eye-candy roles, but nonetheless succeeded in bringing their somewhat 2-D incarnations a little more life. Which is as much as can be asked. When all's said and done, there's no point rating an Apatow-produced mirth machine on anything other than the quality and consistency of its gags. By not relying too heavily on a central concept designed to differentiate itself from the pack, and by not relying on a gimmicky compact concept, Forgetting Sarah Marshall frees itself to be a witty comedy with plenty of laughs to be had.

rating: 3.5