Judd Apatow’s streak as the man with the golden stamp of approval is seriously coming to a halt. While his name was briefly a surefire bet for raunchy yet oddly sincere comedy (Knocked Up, Superbad) his involvement with duds like Walk Hard and this lackluster farce has seriously put his good standing in question. As producer, it’s not fair to put the weight of this film’s failure on Apatow’s shoulders, but it’s hard not to feel disappointed given the super producer's admirable past. Creatively, Forgetting Sarah Marshall seems like little more than a favor to a friend. The very talented and funny Jason Segel (TV’s “Freaks & Geeks” and “How I Met Your Mother“) wrote and stars in this little venture, an intermittently funny but entirely incohesive and boneheaded comedy in which every character besides his own is stiff enough to have been carved from wood.A misused Kristen Bell (TV’s “Veronica Mars”) stars as the titular Sarah, a big-time TV star who has just dumped Segel’s goofy, unmotivated Peter. To try and recover from the harsh blow, Peter heads to Hawaii for a vacation where he is surprised to discover Sarah is staying at the same hotel as him with her new boyfriend, a cliché laden rocker named Aldus Snow. Both Snow and Marshall crush the thin layer of emotional integrity that Segel seems to be trying to maintain. They’re such emotionally inconsistent characters with unfeasibly ludicrous personas that it’s almost impossible to understand what either one sees in the other. Segel’s screenplay alternates awkwardly between toilet humor and seemingly earnest confessionals, but unlike Apatow’s work, he does not balance the two identities seamlessly. Instead what we get are mindless caricatures that sometimes stop to deliver uncomfortable speeches about emotions for which their behavior offers no real evidence.
It’s not fair to say that nothing works here. There’s enough cheap gags to carry the film along from start to finish without every being truly painful. It’s light and humorous but far from the level of nuanced absurdity that’s become a staple of the Apatow brand. Segel throws himself into his role whole-heartedly, creating a character that’s probably the warmest and most believably human of the bunch. His only equal here is the unexpectedly subtle and likable Mila Kunis (TV’s “That 70s Show”) who makes quick work of her supporting role as a charismatic hotel staff member who takes a liking to the down and out Peter. She has a genuine charm here that’s new to her repertoire and it’s more than welcome in this sea of hammy performances. Apatow alums Paul Rudd and Jonah Hill, who were wonderful in Knocked Up and Superbad respectively, give grating performances in useless roles. And the otherwise lovely and talented Kristen Bell is left sadly stranded in an empty role with few real jokes and hardly any emotional sincerity. She’s at best forgettable and at the very worst downright awful in a role that could have been a catapult for a bigger film career.
Those in search of a passable, laugh-filled good time can skate by with this hit or miss rom-com. It’s far from the worst film of its type this year. But anyone entering with the appeal of Apatow’s earlier work as a producer, writer, and director lingering on their minds will certainly not be pleased.
Grade: C+
