This weekend Bre and I went and saw the new Judd Apatow produced semi-gross, semi-sweet romantic comedy, Forgetting Sarah Marshall. The movie stars Jason Segel (who I loved in the little Freaks & Geeks that I saw), Kristen Bell (who I love in everything she's in), and Mila Kunis (who I never liked in the little That 70's Show that I saw). Here's the official plot outline: "Devastated Peter takes a Hawaii vacation in order to deal with recent break-up with his TV star girlfriend, Sarah. Little does he know Sarah's traveling to the same resort as her ex ... and she's bringing along her new boyfriend."

The movie is the newest entry in Apatow's newly formed genre, "romantic comedies that guys like," following The 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up. This genre is usually told from the guy's point of view, has a sweet and pretty girl who happens to like a dorky guy (see Judd Apatow's real life), and is full of vulgarities and gross, adolescent sex jokes. All of this is nicely balanced with sincerity and heart that you rarely find in in the rest of the romantic comedy crap being spewed out by Hollywood right now.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a nice new entry to the series, but maybe doesn't stand up as strongly to the previous two. The story is good, but never great. The jokes are funny, but rarely hysterical. As the tamest of the three films, you realize how much they rely on gross-out humor to keep you entertained as the pretty-average plot rolls along. And when you remove most of those disgusting jokes, there's a little less substance than you once thought. But more importantly, the balance the grotesque gives the sentimentality (and visa versa) is so much more important than you realized, and when one is missing, the other seems a little more potent.

So, that being said (I like to get my beef out of the way first), it is actually a very fun movie, and there is still plenty of shocks to go around. There are some very funny situations, witty commentary on Hollywood, and some great characters. Mila Kunis really shines as the girl Segel falls for when Bell's Sarah Marshall dumps him. The real scene stealer in the movie, though, is Russel Brand as Aldous Snow, the lovably full-of-crap rock star.

Some of my favorite moments of the film are when they would show clips of Sarah Marshal's television program, "Crime Scene," which is a hilariously true parody of crime dramas. There are also great musical moments, as Segel's character, Peter, is writing a rock opera about Dracula with puppets. Very fun. I also found myself running home to iTunes to buy the beautiful Hawaiian cover of Sinead O'Connor's Nothing Compares 2 U by The Coconutz which played during the end credits (which reminds me, don't stand up right away, there's a great clip part of the way through the end credits).

Anyway, if you are looking for a fun, silly movie to go to, that should please just about anyone, I'd definitely suggest Forgetting Sarah Marshall. You'll have a really good time.

Ryan's Rating: B+

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