You might think that full-frontal nudity is in bad taste even with an R rating, but I think it's in no less bad taste that half of America watches "High School Musical." The truth is, Apatow doesn't care whether you think nudity is out of line, just as he doesn't care about Hollywood's standards regarding the solidity of abdominals and biceps for a male romantic lead.
This is the Apatow formula, unabashed and quickly becoming a brand: Foul-mouthed, schlubby guy who dreams about sex and weed and also dreams to date (or, in this case, win back) a beautiful woman. Though Apartow didn't write or direct "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" (Jason Segel wrote the screenplay, first-timer Nicholas Stoller directs and Apatow produces), it fits squarely in the Apatow mold and features a slew of his reliable players, including Jonah Hill, Paul Rudd and Segel himself.
Segal's character is Peter Bretter, a television score composer who's dating the beautiful celebrity Sarah Marshall (Kristin Bell of "Veronica Mars"). Since she's in a hot TV show and surrounded by attractive men like her co-star (played by Billy Baldwin, whipping off his sunglasses and pausing his speech in a skewering satire of David Caruso from CSI) and British rock star Aldous Snow (British comedian Russell Brand), Sarah decides she no longer needs to date slobs who eat cereal by the mixing-bowl-full.
After five years together, she suddenly dumps Peter for Aldous. Peter is heartbroken, and the script makes no apology in subverting the stereotype that only women cry over love. On the advice of his stepbrother ("It's like 'The Sopranos.' It's over. Find a new show."), Peter sets off for Hawaii to clear his head, or, as it turns out, saturate himself with mojitos. Of course, Sarah coincidentally is staying one hotel room over, practicing kama sutra with her new boy toy.
Gag for gag, "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" is almost as funny as last summer's golden duo of Apatow hallmarks, "Knocked Up" and "Superbad" (both 2007). Segel has a mean ear for one-liners -- especially ones that mask his own limited acting range. Among the best is a montage of rebound sexual partners: one robotically says "Hi!" after every thrust, another orgasms with about as much enthusiasm as she'd have doing the dishes. Not every gag is well executed, though.
For every four or five jokes that drew roaring laughter from the audience at last Tuesday's advance screening in Spaulding Auditorium, there was one that fell flat. One particularly unfunny and drawn-out scenario involved Jonah Hill, whose hotel restaurant matre d' has a fanboy obsession with Aldous that never delivers on its comic potential.
Hill is one of a few familiar faces who populate the sidelines. As Peter's stepbrother, Bill Hader of "Saturday Night Live" does his best monotonous Rainn Wilson impression. Jack McBrayer plays a golly-gee-whiz hotel guest -- basically Kenneth from "30 Rock" with a lei and flip-flops. Although somewhat unoriginal, at least these performances are not self-indulgent cameos like those in the frat-pack movies (think the duel scene in "Anchorman"). The secondary characters in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" don't phone in hammy performances, and their roles have distinct comedic purpose. They're a big reason the movie generates so many laughs.
Funny as it is, "Marshall" could have benefited from a surer hand in the editing room. Some scenes are cut short, as if Segel couldn't think of another comeback and tried to end things as quickly as possible. The only time this method pays off is when flashbacks of Peter's relationship with Sarah punctuate scenes of Peter's hapless, mopey despair. Besides breaking the tedium of seeing a guy cry every three minutes, these flashbacks are blink-and-you'll-miss-them interludes straight out of the "Arrested Development" stylebook.
Other scenes have the opposite problem and drag on without any laughs. A good twenty or so minutes in the middle of the movie are spent building up Peter's relationship with a hotel employee (Mila Kunis) -- which is sweet and affecting, but could have been accomplished without sacrificing humor.
The charm of all Apatow movies comes from their ability to balance bawdiness with heart. This script is written with genuine knowledge of all sorts of emotional truths: the spontaneity of feelings, the pitfalls of romance and the difference between aging and growing up. But "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" is strongest when it remembers that it is a romantic comedy, not a comedic romance.
