I'll Soon be Forgetting Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Rating: Null/10 (23 July 2010)

It's no surprise that this film pretty much divides opinion between the young and not-so-young (according to the user ratings) and, to a lesser extent, between women and men. You'd expect it to be a chick flick rom-com (if you forgot that Judd Apatow was involved) but, with its irreverent gross-out comedy and stock of hot females, it's no wonder that it appeals to young men.
Jason Segel stars as Peter, a musician who finds himself dumped by his TV star girlfriend. On the advice of his slightly nerdy friend, Peter decides to fly to Hawaii to forget her, but guess what? She's only there! At the same hotel! Who'd have thought it? Unfortunately, she's there with the man she dumped Peter for, a hairy rock star played by the witless Russell Brand. This being a product of La-La land, it's absolutely impossible for either party to consider changing hotels, so the hapless Peter runs into his ex and her new man everywhere he goes. Luckily for him there's a luscious receptionist on hand to help soothe his pain
The film's amiable enough, but it struggles to find many laughs in such a clichéd situation. Many scenes and situations seem to have been created for no apparent reason: a sub-plot involving a dorky pair of newlyweds goes nowhere and is abruptly dropped, leaving you to wonder why it was included in the first place; Pete's ex's TV programme is dropped while she's on holiday but, after a brief conversation, is also forgotten. Apparently the story is based on the writer's own break up from an actress, so maybe there's some kind of catharsis going on here, but that doesn't excuse a plot that is more merely a collection of incidents than a properly constructed narrative.
Jason Segel makes a likable leading man, although, like most of us, he looks immeasurably better in his clothes than out of them. He just about manages to get the audience on his side, even though his character would no doubt be something of a nightmare to live with and he would be lucky to maintain a meaningful relationship with a woman for five months let alone five years. Kristen Bell as his errant girlfriend looks yummy, but her character is poorly written. Is she a heartless cow, confused, or simply at the end of her tether? Whatever she is, the script treats her with something approaching contempt much of the time. Mila Kunis, as Segel's true love outshines Bell in every department (can she really be the voice of Meg in Family Guy?), but again her character lacks consistency. Russell Brand manages to be marginally less annoying then he normally is, which is probably the biggest compliment he'll ever receive from me.
This isn't a great film by any measure, but its popularity will probably prove enduring enough to ensure it's shown every other day on some second-tier satellite channel.