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So, Jason Segel is brilliant. After watching Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I can't help looking forward to future comedic projects that he writes and acts in, because we're definitely in for some great stuff, if this film is a good indicator of that. The star of Freaks & Geeks (a much underrated TV show that should've definitely lasted much more than just one season) has used conventional material to craft a hilarious film. It falls just a little short of being as brilliant as Knocked Up, but it's still certainly an above-average comedy.
One of the most interesting things is that some of the main members of the Judd Apatow clan, like Jonah Hill and Paul Rudd, take the backseat in this film to play smaller, supporting roles, but that doesn't take away from the film's success at all. If we were left wanting them to be on-screen more because we already know how funny they are, that would mean that Segel and the two female leads were not doing an effective job in their roles, but this isn't the case. We do certainly get uproariously funny moments when Hill and Rudd are on-screen, but the three protagonists definitely hold their own.
However, I personally thought that the funniest moments in the film came from the supporting roles played by Bill Hader and the brilliantly hilarious British actor Russell Brand. The two scenes in which Peter (Segel) has webcam conversations with his stepbrother, Brian (Hader) are pretty simple, yet they are comedic genius. And Russell Brand as the absent-minded Aldous Snow, who thinks the world revolves around him, delivers the big majority of the film's hilarious moments, in my opinion... especially whenever he tries to give people advice.
Some of the film's weaker moments come with the aspects related to Peter's Dracula musical; I understand the WAY in which this is meant to be funny, but it didn't work for me as it probably will for other people. Also, there are times in which Segel tries a little too hard to get us to think his character is this mopey guy we should care about a lot; when it comes to comedies like this, we certainly need to care about the protagonist, but we don't necessarily need to ooze sympathy... we just need to laugh. Segel's probably a better writer than he is an actor (though that's not to say that he gives a bad performance here). In addition, some parts of the climax are a little too conventional. Thankfully, none of these things are big enough concerns because Forgetting Sarah Marshall is still yet another really good piece of sweet/raunchy comedy from the Apatow clan. This makes me look forward to Pineapple Express even more.
7/10
