Bloodless Coup

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Yet another Apatow and friends film that I find to be "eh" entertainment. That crowd has hit on real situations and feelings occasionally. Superbad, far and away the best of their films, hit true feelings and relationships in ways both funny and poignant. But it's telling that the one time their writing has worked (well, you can throw in some of their tv stuff too as another time it's sometimes worked) they were writing about male teenagers and grown men who yearned to be teenagers once again. Because if if doesn't relate to questions and life issues that are of primary importance to a 16 year old boy, these guys seem poorly able to relate to the topic.

That said, this movie does have a number of things going for it. Much of the cast is strong and appealing, when given the chance. Mila Kunis and Kristen Bell do nice work with what they are given. But once again (this time the script was written by actor Jason Segel, probably best known for being, along with Willow, one of the bits of dead weight on How I Met Your Mother) this crowd has written a script where the women are presented as goals or plot devices, not real characters. That Kunis is charming with the thinner than thin character she is given is a testament to her skill. Bell is great in the one real scene she is given (where she allowed to point out that Segel's lead is a tiresome bore who was holding her back for years and who never appreciated her - things that are quite true, and so one wonders who such a character was made the center of a movie), but mostly her job is to scowl or look jealous. Jack McBrayer, Maria Thayer, and Paul Rudd are as funny as you would expect, but they aren't on screen for long. Sadly the lead, Segel, you see all the time. Mostly doing things that these guys thing are hilarious - standing around naked! crying like a girl! singing zany songs!- but which are really usually sophmoric.

All that said, I'd still give the film a C+ and I didn't mind sitting through it. And it's mostly because of Russell Brand. He is hilarious as Sarah Marshall's (Bell) rock star boyfriend. I can't say enough good things about him. It's one of the best performances I've seen all year. Maybe not in an Oscar-worthy way, but he's great and pretty much single-handedly saves the movie from from being too disappointing.