the line "He's like Ghandi only better" made this whole movie.


A-

To put it simply, Forgetting Sarah Marshall is in the same upper tier in the Apatow family as The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up. It's another "romantic comedy for guys," and it's right on the money. Jason Segel arrives as a screen comedian with a hilarious yet human turn as the depressed Peter Bretter. As Bretter, Segel manages to pull off a whiny sadsack without losing any of the audience's sympathy. (Think of it as Paul Giamatti's character in Sideways as if done by the Apatow team.) On the flip side, Kirsten Bell avoids the obvious misstep of playing Sarah Marshall as an over-the-top bitch, which makes the movie all the more effective. Russell Brand steals just about every scene he's in as Alodus Snow. Mila Kunis does nice supporting work, while Apatow regulars Paul Rudd and Jonah Hill show up for funny bit roles. Like 40YOV and Knocked Up before it, there's both laugh-out-loud raunchy humor and a sweeter nature underneath it all. The raunch here is more visual than in some of the previous Apatow company films (the highlights being what I'd dub a "fuck-off" and the much talked about nudity, courtesy Segel), though it's still very quotable. All said, it's the funniest comedy to hit screens since Knocked Up, and the best movie of 2008 to date. (And be sure to stay seated when the credits start to roll!)

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 4 (A-)

Also...

Not laugh out loud hilarious but very consistent.

Im not crying your crying!

I saw this again today. I laughed about as often the second time around as I did the first, so like 40YOV and Knocked Up before it, it holds up pretty well.

I also just bought "Inside of You" from iTunes. Russell Brand was absolutely hilarious in the movie.

The WOM of this between my friends is really amazing. Same as Superbad and Knocked Up. I think Im going to see it again next weekend.

The WOM of this between my friends is really horrible. Same as Superbad and Knocked Up. I think Im going to avoid it again next weekend.

That's unfortunate, you need better friends.

That's unfortunate, you need better friends.

Ones who liked 10,000 B.C., right?

And Catwoman and Basic Instinct 2.

Love it so much. Jason Segel did a fantasic job. The singing he did was wonderful as well. Before this came out I was in love with Kristen Bell but since I saw it I am in love with Mila Kunis. Both did great. I loved all the supporting roles like Rudd and Hill but my favorite was with out a doubt Jack McBrayer. He was fucking awesome!!
Oh and my favorite scene which I couldnt stop laughing was the Pig scene. HILARIOUS!!!
9/10 or A Liked it better than Knocked Up but not as much as 40 year-old Virgin


COME ON PINEAPPLE EXPRESS!!!!!!!!

I'm at the complete opposite side of the spectrum. I thought the humor was really inconsistent. When it was funny, it was massively hilarious, but it was really flat a lot of the time.

I was also really annoyed by Segel's performance. It was way too bland. He tried to pull off an "everyman" performance but, unfortunately, failed. I think if he were more interesting I would have liked it a lot more, because everything else was done pretty well.

B+

I saw it again a bit ago and I regret to report that bradley (of all people!) is probably more right than wrong on this one. Viewing #2 was kind of torturous.

Always funny, and frequently hilarious, it nonetheless is hampered by awkward editing and a lack of a strong narrative (as with Knocked Up and even Virgin to a degree). Similarly, as with all Apatow productions (save for Superbad), the funny is there in ample doses, but the story doesn't follow suit. I guess I just don't get his style of comedy.

7/10 -> B-

A charming and very likable comedy, mostly because of the performances from the whole main and supporting cast. I expected much more laugh out loud moments, there were only a few. Mostly it's chuckles.

Bit disappointed. It's amusing enough, but never half as outright hilarious as the 40YOV and Knocked Up at their best. Also despite the exterior of having the characters cry and sniffle a lot, I didn't buy into these people emotionally on nearly the same level of those films.

Segal does his job well, the problem is with the other three. They have a good idea making Sarah almost the more sympathetic one in the second half, but I just don't think Bell pulls it off at all, whether that's from her lack of ability or Stoller's. In any case the film the film abandons that ship to go back to Segal's show shortly after, in fact I think we don't see her again after the hotel incident. I can understand the idea of leaving her behind as Peter does, but that idea doesn't fit at all with the 20 minutes before it where she almost takes the role of lead. But whatever.

As for the other two... Kunis is solid, but is given too little. Other than the beach fight she acts as the pretty face in the equation. Rachel doesn't really seperate herself from the thousands of other romcom love interests out there. Brand I thought did well comedically, but again the film hinted in scenes like the surfing bit that it would push him as more legitimate and real than most "other guy"s in films like this, but they never really follow up on that. By the end he reverts to shallow noted comic douche again, like when talking about banging Sarah + Rachel at the same time or mentioning banging the limo driver at the end. The difference between how Knocked Up treats its characters and how this does, is that in that film all four of the leads had equal humanity and depth. In FSM Segal is there, Bell is there for 20 minutes in the second act and forgotten otherwise, and the rest aren't there at all.

Also, the supporting characters. It's not so much that they were more miss than hit (I thought the funniest was actually the bartender), but it was that there was too many of them spread too thin, none of them solidified their place, and as a result came off more random and unneeded than anything. McBryer's role was particularly out of nowhere. With Heder and Rudd, as useless as they were, we're at least we're meeting them through Segal's eyes. But with McBryer, we actually get a fully arced subplot that we follow away from Segal's perspective... and it ends halfway through the film, we never see them again after that. I didn't get it.

The dracula thing is entertaining enough, but I wasn't dieing in my seat or anything. I think that covers the film pretty well.

2.5/5

I totally forgot to mention, the funniest parts of the movie for me were the procedural spoofs. They NAILED it. Even the Animal Instincts one at the end was dead on. Fucking CBS.

saw it again when my roommate bought it.

still gets an A- from me

Easily the best comedy of the year.

This film is much more laid back then other Apatow films and the laughs are priceless. Jason Segal was hilarious but there was a little too much of his "stuff" in the film for me. Bill Hader was hilarious in each one of his scenes especially the necklace scene which was probably the best scene of the film. Apatow delivers another hit.

A-

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

I enjoyed it about as much as the first time I saw it. Very funny and quirky at times. Just a fun movie, but totally predictable. Not as good as The Five-Year Engagement.

B+

Paul Rudd and Russell Brand were pretty great. Jason Segal was also very good, and Mila Kunis and Kristen Bell were forgettable.

This movie has no re-watch value . I saw it theatrically and really enjoyed it. Watched it again on DVD and it was a chore to sit through. It's really not that funny. I don't hate it but it's overrated. I did find Bell poking fun at herself to be fun. The scenes from her character's TV show were .

They were the worst scenes for me. And this was my second time of watching it. I laughed again.

I watch this every time when it comes on FX. It's extremely rewatchable, if only for how hot Mila Kunis is.

I used to think Kunis was hot, but I've been over her for a long time. She's a little bit slutty to me now. She seems to have sex in every film, and is far too easy. She's pretty, but she doesn't have much else going for her beyond her appearance.