A pleasant surprise

Rating: Null/10 (26 July 2008)

A relatively minor Apatow clan release, released in April without the sort of promotion and attention "Knocked Up", "Superbad", "Pineapple Express", etc. received, "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" is a pleasant surprise, a consistently entertaining romantic comedy with several scenes of effective and realistic character-oriented drama.
The film was written by star Jason Segel, who based much of the film on his relationship and breakup with "Freaks and Geeks" co-star Linda Cardellini. For a debut screenplay Segel's work is surprisingly strong as he clearly understands where and how to inject just enough dramatic realism into this comedy script. As with most comedies there are naturally several jokes which fall flat, but most of the humor is sharp and effective. Segel even managed to write a good part for annoying nitwit Russell Brand, granted the character is an... annoying nitwit, but a well-written one. Segel's screenplay succeeds mostly as a result of him being able to develop a cast of entertaining and interesting characters whose conversations feel genuine and are never boring.
Director Nicholas Stoller handles the film very well, using the Hawaiian locations to optimal effect and keeping the film moving at a fast pace. The cast is incredible, Mila Kunis in particular is a revelation and anyone used to her from "That 70's Show" will be shocked but extremely taken by the depth and range of her performance. Kristen Bell is also much better than expected, and Segel is essentially playing himself yet again. He's good at playing himself.
"Forgetting Sarah Marshall" isn't perfect and several scenes just plain fall flat, but the end result is still an effective and involving romantic comedy/drama that marks a promising writing debut for Jason Segel.
7.5/10