Maybe One or Two Laughs

Rating: 4/10 (31 August 2008)

To be honest, I didn't think Forgetting Sarah Marshall was much better or worse than The Heartbreak Kid. I think I laughed during the pediatrician scene and one other part that I can't remember. The characters are just a collection of stereotypes...and they are not even up-to-date stereotypes! Surfers that have smoked themselves into a stupor are way eighties, dudes. I think Paul Rudd, whom I like, knew his character was just another variation of Spicoli and phones it in a little.
A weepy Emo rocker or even an angry white rapper would've been more contemporary than a sex-obsessed British rock star. You would have to go back decades to find a musical artist that even remotely resembles him. They even miss chances to poke fun at real-life personalities. Sarah Marshall could have been one of those boozy ingénues that flash their privates as they get out of limos.
Supporting characters are unnecessarily inserted into the story and eventually forgotten, but they don't even provide an excuse for a clever joke. There is a Christian couple on their honeymoon that are completely pointless and they lead to some of the worst gags in the movie. All you are left with is something that is going to potentially insult a large group of people and you didn't even get a single laugh out of it. Jonah Hill and his infatuation with the rock star goes nowhere and is not particularly funny. The other characters have become all-too-familiar in a romantic comedy. The too-good-to-be-true romantic interest. The henpecked husband and friend of the hero. Et cetera.
There was a stand-up comedian on the talk show circuit a few years back who would make a joke about how people will get tattoos of symbols in foreign languages that have no meaning, like the Japanese kanji for "water." They shoehorn the joke into the film by having it spoken by an airhead who is suddenly translating tattoos in other languages. Maybe Carlos Mencia contributed to the movie?
When Judd Apatow produced a good comedy show, "Freaks & Geeks," it was largely ignored by the public and was quickly canceled after one season. When he started appealing to the lowest common denominator, the same people were suddenly his biggest fans and praised him. You start to see why "That 70's Show" lasted 8 seasons and why "Two and a Half Men" is entering its sixth. Meanwhile, "Arrested Development" barely makes it to 3.
Almost every opportunity and set-up the movie has to do something clever, they take the easy and predictable route. I was actually surprised by how many of the jokes were just plain cheesy. The only thing you can say in defense of such a shallow movie is that it is comparatively better than Disaster Movie or Good Luck Chuck, but that should not impress anyone. You would almost have to be trying to make a worse comedy than those. It is like when people orgasm because gas prices fall a little, but they are still paying more than they should. People are becoming conditioned to bad comedy.
And, yes, there is a token ethnic guy.