"Forgetting Sarah Marshall" a thing to remember

The Screening Room
Specially written for What's Up

Chalk one more up in the Judd Apatow win column. The guy is a juggernaut of comical success.
"Forgetting Sarah Marshall," the newest in a slew of big screen hits straight out of Apatown, is a hilarious and heartfelt movie with all the goofy gleam genre fans have come to love.
Written by and starring Jason Segel ("Knocked Up," CBS' "How I Met Your Mother), "Sarah" follows down-and-out, hangdog Peter (Segel), a composer for the CSI-like TV drama "Crime Scene," of which girlfriend Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell, "Veronica Mars") is star. But after Sarah dumps Peter — in an uproariously funny scene in which Peter is stark naked and in full, hapless view — the musician pendulums into a depressive craze, alternating between eating Fruit Loops in front the tube and inviting strange women into his bed.
After his attempts to heal his broken heart prove futile, the lumbering, weepy Peter goes on a Hawaiian getaway, only to find Sarah is staying at the same resort as he — with her new boyfriend in tow.
Sarah's flame is famous rocker Aldous Snow, (played by Brit comic Russell Brand, who's devil-may-care persona is priceless) who at one point responds to a request by a doting hotel waiter (Jonah Hill), regarding if he listened to his demo CD, by saying "I was going to... but then I just carried on living my life."



Stuffed with Apatow's sidesplitting regulars like Hill, Bill Hader and a wackily dazed Paul Rudd, as well as "30 Rock's" Jack McBrayer in an ever-hilarious quest to fulfill his wife's honeymoon enjoyment, the film is one with the perfect balance of the funny and the down-to-earth.
Lucky for Peter, his ruined vacation is brightened by delightful hotel clerk Rachel (Mila Kunis, "That 70s Show"), who's plucky and ungraceful yet sweet and insightful approach make the pair a perfect match. Turns out, Rachel is a little heartbroken as well, and she and Peter encourage one another to start fresh without missing a raunchy, jocose beat.
Segel, who starts the movie out with a pectoral dance in the mirror and then gives a grand, laugh-out-loud performance of his "Dracula" puppet rock opera in full Transylvanian accent, wrote an illegally funny and completely lovable script. Bell and Kunis should both be given props as well for giving their characters impeccable nuance and honesty.
Directed by Nicholas Stoller (writer for Apatow's "Undeclared") and produced by the comic juggernaut himself, "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" makes a big splash in an already crowded pool, and will be a hard standard to meet for the rest of the summer's screwball gut busters.