Should Be Called 'Forgettable' Sarah Marshall

Rating: 4/10 (19 July 2008)

I went to see this movie a week ago, because of all the good reviews it's been given. Richard Roeper said it was 'one of the greatest comedies of all time'. It was also produced by Judd Apatow, who directed "The 40 Year Old Virgin", which is most definitely one of the greatest comedies of all time. So, of course, I went to the theater expecting to laugh my butt off. Needless to say, the movie did not live up to the hype at all. It wasn't a horrible movie, but it definitely wasn't the best either. I must admit it had potential, but I think the ball was dropped on this one.
For one thing, for a comedy, it wasn't that funny. It had it's amusing moments, but only one or two laugh out loud moments. I could see there were a few lines that I think the writers intended to be funny, but they were awkward and fell flat. And there were a few too many melodramatic moments for my liking. It's not really a straight out comedy, it's more like a raunchy chick flick with a few humorous moments.
Another thing, the editing is atrocious. I don't usually notice that sort of thing, but the cuts were so abrupt it was almost a distraction. Obviously, the person working in the editing room either had too much to drink the night before, had no idea what they were doing or perhaps it was a combination of both.
There was also a lot of bad acting. The main characters are mostly TV actors and it was painfully obvious that they aren't ready for the big screen. Jason Segal, who played Peter Bretter, was the biggest offender. Though he's cute, there was no way someone as gorgeous as Kristen Bell would ever give him a second look in real life. The audience was told repeatedly in the movie that Peter was extremely charismatic, charming and funny as heck. The problem is that he was actually none of those. He's actually very average, boring and not very funny. There is also no way that someone like Mila Kunis' character, Rachel, who is also extremely beautiful and has a pretty wild life, would ever fall for him either. The two people who really shine in this movie is Russell Brand as perverted rocker Aldous Snow and Bill Hader, who plays it straight and serious as Peter's step-brother Brian.
And I wasn't the only one who thought this way. The theater was half full and no one except my husband and I laughed throughout the whole film. And we only laughed maybe once or twice.
All in all, it wasn't that great and I regretted having spent nine dollars in order to see it. If you're really interested in watching it, I'd wait until it comes out on DVD and then I'd get it from the Redbox. If you don't watch it with high expectations, then you might enjoy it.