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Forgetting Sarah Marshall
A limp comedic effort
By
TOM MEEK
|
April 16, 2008
FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL
" alt="photo of 'FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL'">
2.0
Stars
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Judd Apatow gave the dick joke a shot of Viagra in
Knocked Up
and
Superbad
. Here, as producer, he takes it one stroke farther as writer/star Jason Segel (he was one of the screw-offs in
Knocked Up
) keeps flogging his log for the camera — and I’m not sure why. The comic effect goes limp fast and has little to do with the effort of Segel’s Pete to win back the girlfriend of the title (Kristen Bell). She’s the renowned star of a
CSI
-like crime show and he’s the lowly composer. Over-rigged coincidences deliver the estranged couple separately to the same Hawaiian resort where Apatow regular Jonah Hill toils as a crass maître d’ and Paul Rudd poses as a stoned surfer dude. The film does show some heart when Pete falls for the sassy front-desk receptionist (Mila Kunis) and Russell Brand delivers a droll parody of a sober, free-loving pop star, but at nearly two hours, director Nicholas Stoller just can’t keep it up.
112 minutes | Boston Common + Fenway +Harvard Square + Circle + Arlington Capitol + suburbs
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ARTICLES BY TOM MEEK
THE EXPRESS
| October 09, 2008
Football bio-pic offers a reflection on our not-so-proud past
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A kooky Disney cross-breed
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