Forgetting Sarah Marshall Review by Joe Martinez.
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Director: Nicholas Stoller
Cast: Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Russell Brand
Our Rating: B+

Forgetting Sarah Marshall is the latest comedy from the stable of Judd Apatow, writer and director of Knocked Up, producer of Superbad. He serves as producer here, and the film has a similar tone to its half brothers.

It focuses on the break-up of TV show composer Peter Bretter (Jason Segel, who also wrote the movie) with his super-hot actress girlfriend Sarah Marshall (Veronica Mars’ Kristen Bell), and his attempts to get over her.

These efforts are not helped when he flies off to Hawaii, only to find that she is staying in the same hotel, and with new boyfriend Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) in tow.

However, there is hope for Peter, in the form of hotel receptionist Racheal (That’s how it’s spelt on IMDB!), played by Mila Kunis.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall has more in common with Knocked Up than it does with Superbad as it feels slightly more grown-up. The choices presented in it are never clear cut, and there is no real villain – The eponymous Marshall (a fine turn by Bell) is the closest we come to someone we can hate, but even she is injected with a degree of empathy.

I had little to no interest beforehand in either Russell Brand or Mila Kunis, but both go a long way to endearing themselves here. In particular Kunis, who is beyond cute. Russell Brand essentially plays himself – sending up his sex-mad persona with an amiable aplomb, and delivers most of the films best one-liners.

Most thankfully, it’s Bell who finally shows she has the chops to make the move into features, after stumbling post-Veronica, with the dreadful horror flick Pulse.

The writers may well be sending Bell up, as her character worries about her ability to transfer her skills from her cancelled TV show (a CSI pastiche) to feature films, and is mocked for her first film, a horror about a mobile phone that kills people (“Why would a mobile phone kill anyone?” “Just take the battery out….”).

Two stand-out moments sadly cannot be relayed here, as their humor undoubtedly stems from an element of surprise, but they alone could well be worth the price of a ticket.

Overall this is an intelligent, heart warming (and yes, very, very rude) comedy that can sit proudly alongside Superbad and Knocked Up.