Who is the Audience for This Movie?

Fans of romantic comedies.

What I Liked About This Movie

The fictional show that the couple works on contained some nice digs at CSI Miami star David Caruso’s cheesy shtick. Stephen Baldwin nails his mannerisms perfectly with pitch perfect dialogue delivery to back them up.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall contains original songs by the characters that are absolutely hilarious. The Dracula opera song sung by the main character to his new love interest managed to be one of the funniest scenes of the movie. I would say, even if you do not see the movie find a way to see that scene. Out of all the scenes though my favorite has to be when the two couples eventually meet and have a very awkward dinner together.

If I had to pick one cast member that stood out from the rest I would have to say Russell Brand was the shining star. He managed to nail the egotistical cool as ice rock star persona. His character is that dude you love to hate but cannot help admiring that he is so utterly confident in himself. This movie contains a solid cast all around they just aren’t as on point as Russell Brand is.

What Didn’t Work For Me

First time I sat down to watch this movie was with a friend after a few drinks. It opens on a somewhat depressing note so we turned it off immediately. The next day when I sat down to watch it I was slightly more defensive towards it after having recently turned it off. I still found the opening a little too depressing for the minor laughs it brings but it was not nearly as bad on second viewing. Story wise it is very clichéd with arcs that anyone who has ever seen a romantic comedy will be immediately familiar with.

In a comedy I always feel that the lead actor should bring the funny better then the rest of the cast. Jason Segel does deliver a decent amount of laughs I just found myself being way more interested in the secondary characters. Multiple pop cultural references are made during the movie and I cannot help but feel that 10 years down the line those jokes will not hold as much resonance. This seems to be a trend in newer movies that I personally do not understand; why would you want to instantly date your movie?

Should You Watch This Movie?

If you are in the mood for a solid romantic comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall should fit the bill.

My Rating (Out of 13)