Few Laughs, Forgettable Characters

Rating: 4/10 (26 May 2008)

As a comedy, Forgetting Sarah Marshall failed pretty thoroughly. We waited about two-thirds of the film to finally see some snappy dialogue between characters, and the movie found its stride after all four main characters begin talking together near the end. But the plot setup dragged on and we found ourselves staring at each other thinking, "This film better get good fast!" It didn't.
While we don't really mind clichéd characters - after all, paying homage to archetypes makes for perfectly good stories - we truly didn't really care about what happened to any of the characters. While likable and funny at the end of the film, we see 45 minutes or more of the main male lead bawling his eyes out with no character development whatsoever, and therefore we lose interest in him.
We did enjoy the final twenty minutes - too bad for the people who walked out; it did get better - but a nice conclusion does not a good story make.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall would be great as a 45-minute film. But as a 1.5 hour 'comedy,' you'll have fewer laughs than Letterman on a bad night. See it at a friend's house for free later.