Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Judd Apatow pretty much owns comedy in America right now. Whether he's writing and directing or just producing, his films are becoming instantly identifiable: 'Freaks And Geeks' alumni, romantic subplots complete with musical cues, Paul Rudd, sex jokes, sex scenes, classic rise/fall plot arcs, montages, and happy endings. I pretty much know what I'm getting into when I sit down with these, but I've seen enough good romantic comedies to know when I'm watching slop. There's only one reason why Apatow's films (along with Kevin Smith's) do have big audiences: they are funny and you know exactly where the jokes are.
Like Seth Rogen in 'Knocked Up' and Jonah Hill in 'Superbad', Apatow gives his old 'Freaks And Geeks' pal Jason Segel the spolight in the new 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall'. Continuing in the tradition of narcissistic sad sacks who write films about wounded good guys who just need the love of a girl to fix them, and then cast themselves in the lead role (see Matt Damon in 'Good Will Hunting', Zak Braff in 'Garden State', and Vincent Gallo in 'Buffalo 66'); Segel casts himself as Peter, a lazy musician and all-around everyguy who gets dumped by his TV star girlfriend, Sarah Marshall (future Mrs. Mathis and 'Veronica Mars'' Kristen Bell). Empty sex with gorgeous girls doesn't help his sadness and he's soon off to a Hawaiian resort where, you guessed it, Sarah is also staying with her new Euro-trash, rock star boyfriend. The good nature of the locals, the sympathy of the hotel desk clerk (future Mrs. Mathis and 'That '70's Show's Mila Kunis), and the beautiful Hawaiian setting slowly help to cure Peter's devastation. Of course, things go wrong; and the final act is spent suspending all belief so that we can have a little drama before (PLOT SPOILER) the happy ending.
You'll get what you probably came here for. 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' does have its funny moments, but it also has its awkward attempts at humor that fall flat on their face. '30 Rock's Jack McBrayer and 'Strangers With Candy' alum Maria Thayer botch an already unfunny subplot about two sexually clueless newlyweds and the always reliable Paul Rudd and Jonah Hill are largely wasted as local resort tools. There's so many sex-oriented jokes and dangling penis's that you can almost hear the balloon bursting. You can't blame a gifted humorist for wanting to make films that are easy to watch, but you can't help resenting his success.

For AKN

Great horror movies are remembered for being something that we haven't really seen before. 'Psycho' was the first horror film where the monster was a very average young man. 'The Exorcist' introduced a documentary-style realism to the genre. 'The Blair Witch Project' brought a first person, home video quality that put us right out there in those woods. With this in mind, this month's 'The Strangers' is not a great horror movie. It leans heavily on every convention that makes the scary movie scary and preys on the audiences basic fear of vulnerability. James and Kristen are a disintegrating couple who spend a post-wedding reception evening at a remote cabin. After an hour or so, they begin to get terrorized by three people in scary masks. When asked later why they're subjecting them to such brutalization, all they get is, "Because you were home".
There is something unsettling about being out in such remote places, where there's no safety in numbers and the law is far away. The screenplay was based loosely on the unsolved Keddie, CA murders in 1981. and, to its credit, 'The Strangers' is unsettling at first. The initial suspense is drawn out for an excruciating long time and those first few knocks on the door do get to you. After about forty-five minutes though, the scariness dies an unceremonious death. The action seems so unnecessarily drawn out it feels as if the killers are deliberately trying to get to an acceptable movie length. In addition to the occasional masterstroke, the overall feeling is enough make you nervous about walking to the car alone; but not enough to really recommend 'The Strangers' to anyone.