A slight disappointment for a big fan of Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Rating: 6/10 (6 June 2010)

A movie spin-off of Nicholas Stoller's previous film, Forgetting Sarah Marshall. That was one of my favorite comedies of the year in 2008. In fact, I include it fairly high on my top 10 list of that year in general. And Aldous Snow (played by British comedian Russell Brand) was part of the reason for that movie's success, for sure. So, alas, Snow's spin-off movie is unfortunately a mild disappointment. Jonah Hill (who had a small role in Sarah Marshall but plays a different character in this) works for a record company. He has an idea to re-ignite the fading rock star's career by having him perform a ten year anniversary gig at the site of one of his biggest triumphs. But, of course, Snow is a pampered rock star who likes to party constantly and do whatever the Hell he wants, and Hill is kind of a pushover. It's a simple story, and one that has been done before. All you have to do is string some good jokes along and it should work. It does work much of the time, in all honesty. It even has some good characters. I especially love Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men) as Hill's overworked girlfriend. And P. Diddy is actually really funny as Hill's boss. Colm Meaney (whom I always remember from Star Trek: The Next Generation) is also good as Snow's father. The film is sporadically funny - hilarious at times, even. But for some reason it always feels like it's kind of shallow and just not funny enough. Forgetting Sarah Marshall really scored by having just enough real emotion in the film that we ended up caring for the characters. I don't think this one ever gets that far, though it does try. Maybe Sarah Marshall's screenwriter (and star) Jason Segel should have collaborated on the script with Stoller. This film is still well worth a rental if you liked the first film. Kristen Bell has a nice cameo as Sarah Marshall in the film.