Predictable, Eclectic and Not Novel, But Still Pretty Enjoyable

Rating: 8/10 (22 August 2008)

A fellow has written here that the only thing that stands out in this film is male nudity, which is not a plus, and the acceptability of this film depends on the viewer's tolerance to averageness. Well, I am not going to strongly oppose that or anything, and maybe to most, that is what the film amounts down to, but I find this film much more enjoyable that Good Luck Chuck, or Heartbreak Kid, or other similar films a film school student has categorized as "apato" in another comment here.
Things shown in this film are, as always, not theoretically impossible, but it just doesn't happen. There are things the drop dead gorgeous beauties could do, that would change the lives of many, which they do not, except in the movies. But of course, it is a movie, so what the heck! One of the things that make this film more enjoyable than most other similar films is the fact that the central character of this film is not a veteran in the industry of playing loony characters, like Ben Stiller is. So it does not take too much of patience or tolerance or hard work to make yourself believe that this guy Peter, who is trying to forget Sarah Marshall, can actually be a normal man from a normal society, who is just sucking at living right now, but he is not completely banged up in the head. When I watched "There is Something about Mary", I felt severely suffocated and awkward, because it was mostly not funny and none of the characters in the film did anything at all like an actual human would do! Abnormal or dysfunctional are not synonyms of funny. It should not be too hard to understand, but people often don't! So in an industry where "There is Something About Mary" has received complements like "Phenomenal!" or "A True Collectible!", Forgetting Sarah Marshall deserves at least some credit, in my opinion.
There is not much else to say. I recommend this film over most other mindless comedies made in Hollywood. Not that this one is something very special, but at least I, as a not-so-outdoorsy and not-so-cool-but-still-normal man, could relate to it, and understood it, and had a few good laughs, and also could relate to the sad moments of the film.
If you are sick of films like Good Luck Chuck or Heartbreak Kid, there is a fair chance that you may still like Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I know I did!