Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a film that doesn’t need its first kiss boosted by anything more than a two-second quiet romantic tone to make it into the most romantic moment in the film. Forgetting Sarah Marshall has so much sincerity and tangible reality in it, such multidimensional and believable characters, and offers such versatile, fair, non-clichéd comic and dramatic situational clashes of characters that it’s a match for any highly acclaimed psychological drama in terms of having a unique creative touch and quality storytelling. I saw this in a multiplex right after the shallow, superficial, tacky, cheap and unoriginal Sex and the City – and it didn’t just improve my mood for a moment, it improved my whole weekend. Judd Apatow is no less intelligent than Steven Spielberg, and thanks to him, after twenty years of watching movies, I fell in love with a genre that I have always considered only mindless fun. And what about the missing fifth star? You don’t fall in love with a girl because she’s perfect... (22/06/2008)

Another enjoyable comedy from Judd Apatow, plus my favorite actors from TV series: HIMYM's Marshall (Jason Segel), VM's Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell). I was captivated by the character of Aldous Snow – Sarah's new boyfriend and extravagant singer, played brilliantly by Russell Brand. (03/08/2009)

It seemed almost impossible to convince me with any arguments about anything labeled Appatowa, Rogen, or Hilla. After the very bad Zbouchnutá and only melancholically average Superbad, I received a carefully polished surprise this time, wrapped in an authentic romantic comedy. Of course, I'm not hiding the sexual exercise with chess figures, a gallery of nude photos, or, last but not least, the royal scepter of the main character in all its glory. But thanks to Segel's screenplay, everything can be seasoned however much you want, and I still see mainly sharp wit, romance, and to my enormous surprise, a few life truths that no one can take away from us. It will probably never work out so ideally for this broad group of vulgar, sexist, and horny modern idols. That's why I'll keep this little treasure for myself. (14/08/2008)

There have been a bit too many sharply intelligent and witty comedies lately, perhaps it wouldn't hurt to reduce the amount of gritty reality and give the audience a bit of emotions, as not everyone enjoys seeing a naked Jason Segel, who looks like he has been eating sausages washed down with powerful gulps of beer for the past few years. Mila Kunis saves a lot, her genuine character is flawless. The rest is not worth mentioning. “Reality” without any distinctive trademarks. Boring. (07/10/2008)

Nothing special, really, but on the other hand it was terribly cute and naive and had nice performances, so all the missteps and clichés were masked quite successfully in the end. Jason Segel fits his role perfectly, as does Mila Kunis, whose beauty surpasses even the entire Hawaiian scenery and manages to make an already easygoing film a bit more enjoyable for me. What puzzles me, though, is the much-vaunted cult of Judd Apatow. With all due respect, as beautiful as Forgetting Sarah Marshall is, I really struggle to find a single plot or emotional impulse that lifts it out of genre routine and touches the romantic in me with the same love and sincerity as some of the films by Rob Reiner, Jason Reitman or Lasse Hallstrom. (18/10/2012)