FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL

Now if you know me you'll know that I am a huge fan of Mr. Apatow's films. I have "The 40-year old virgin", "Knocked up" and "Superbad" all on my favorite films list, but they're gonna have to make room for one more, cause I absolutely loved Forgetting Sarah Marshall. This film comfortably sits on the shelf in the Apatow library. After being kinda disappointed with his last film "Walk Hard" I thought maybe his success is starting to wain a bit, but this film proved me wrong.

Right off the bat I gotta give big props to Jason Segel, the films star and writer. You may remember Mr. Segel from the failed TV-series "Undeclared" and as one of Ben's roommates in "Knocked up", but he's had a bit of trouble getting his own career off the ground. Segel himself said he was Un-employed for 5 years until he got things going with this script, which he says is actually a bit autobiographically. After seeing him in this film I have no doubts he can reach the same heights of his friend Seth Rogen. The script, like the other Apatow films is totally hilarious, with great dialouge and great character arcs. The lead character Peter played by Segel goes from being a depressed ex-boyfriend to learning how to become a independent man. Segel sells his character so well that you can't help not feel bad for the guy, he also bares it all literally in one of the funniest break up scenes in movie history. Kristen Bell of course plays TV-superstar Sarah Marshall, the girl we come to hate, but are still are somewhat in love with. Kristen's sweetness and beuaty made me truly feel Peter's struggle to let her go. Another great addition was that of Mila Kunis, who you may know best as Jakie from "That 70's Show". She plays a different type of character here named Rachel, a hotel manager who becomes a love interest for Peter. The character of Rachel differs from Sarah in the way they both treat Peter. Rachel challenges Peter to do what he wants and find out who he is, where as Sarah justwants Peter to grow up. Mila does a great job sheding her spoiled-brat character on That 70's Show that's made her so famous and really brings a heart to this character. However, the real scene stealer here is Sarah's new flamboient 'rock-star' boyfriend Aldous Snow played hilariously br Russell Brand. This guy is probably the funniest and most outrageous character in a movie I've seen in a long time. This guy is definetly on my radar, I look forward to see what he does next because he was just so damn funny. His character was a perfect fit for Sarah, becuase we find out during the course of the film how wrong they are for each other. Like every other Apatow film the usual hilariuous players show up like Jonah Hill, Paul Rudd and Bill Hader in tip top form. I appreciate that Apatow is so close with these guys that they all stick together, I never get tired of seeing them cause frankly they are just generally funny. I was kinda sad however that Seth Rogen didn't make an apperance, but he's having a crazy year as it is I mean you can't turn around without seeing him somewhere.

The actuall filming aspect of this film was actually really well done. The choice to set this film in Hawaii was a great opportunity to get some really nice shots, and the Director Nicholas Stoller did a great job exploring the island and making it feel like a great escape for Peter. Stoller also did a great job showing Peter and Sarah's past relationship with funny and intresting flashbacks including some funny scenes at movie premieres and such, showing how Sarah was the big star, and Peter was always just hanging back out of the picture. It really showed that even than they didn't work well with each other, even if Peter chose to ignore it and continue to think everything was fine.

Overall I would say that this was a great first effort of Jason Segel and another great film for the Apatow library. I can't wait to see this move again, and am looking forward to seeing what Segel has in store for us in the future. This film was a pleasent surprise and I loved every mintue of it.

5 outta 5!