Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Perhaps the best way to start this review is just to come out and say this film is a pure joy to watch.  It is the kind of comedy that I love too see and I have a hunch already this will be a film I will revisit in the future.  Forgetting Sarah Marshall is the kind of comedy that will have you smiling, if not laughing out loud for most of its run time.  It also works well as a romance and has an actual sweet side to it that I found hard to resist.  You’ll be hard pressed to find a much better comedy then Finding Sarah Marshall this year.

            Forgetting Sarah Marshall tells the story of modest musician Peter Bretter, played here in a star making performance by Jason Segal.  He is a kind of lovable slob who is happy with doing little more then writing music and sitting around in his apartment.  Peter in the film is dating a famous television star Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell) and peter is some what obsessed with her.  One day Sarah comes by his apartment, in a very funny scene, and dumps Peter.  Naturally Peter is crushed by this and cant get over his ex, so he decides to get his mind off of her by going to Hawaii. 

            Unfortunately for Peter his ex is staying at the same resort as he is and to top that she is there with her new boyfriend, a cool British rock star.  Getting over Sarah has just gotten a lot harder for Peter but soon Peter meets lots of off beat natives at the resort who help him get over Sarah.  Among these new friends he meets a cute girl at the Hotels front desk, played with real charm by Mila Kunis.  Soon they begin to grow romantically attached with one another and Peter finally loosens up.

            For me the thing that keeps the film together and makes it work as well as it does is the wonderful performance by Jason Segal.  Segal plays his character in a way that you can not help but root for him and like him.  He provides a kind of sympathy that makes you want him succeed and gives you a rooting interest in the film.  Also the jokes are much funny, as many of the jokes are at his expense.  Segal I can see being a great romantic comedy actor in the same league as John Cusack.  Along with a strongly sympathetic and comic performance, Segal also wrote the very funny script for the film.  The script has some really fun gags in it but there is also a lot of smart observations.  There is a really funny send up on shows like CSI for instance.  The screenplay also has a real nice touch of real emotion and sweetness that adds to the film.

            The supporting cast is also a great advantage to this film.  There is a whole bunch of funny supporting characters that add a lot of laughs to this film.  Jonah Hill is funny as an obsessed waiter, Paul Rudd good as a stoner surfer, and Russell Brand is hilarious as the goofy rocker Sarah is with.  There are more I could go on with but these are just some of the highlights. 

            Looking back I really can find few things I find wrong with the film.  I really enjoyed the film when I watched it and walked out with a smirk on my face that lasted for awhile.  Even now as I look back on the film I seem to like it more.  I already see it growing on me as I write this right now.  I think maybe I could be over hyping this film but I really cant lie about how much I liked it.  Its rare enough to find a film as funny as this one, it’s even harder to find one that is as sweet and smart as this one.  In the future I can see this being a film I could watch again and enjoy it just as much the second time.  Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a comedy is not to be missed, and it has a little of something for everyone. This is already a good contender for the best comedy of the year, as it will be pretty hard to beat.      

4/ 4 Stars

Leatherheads

At times while watching the film Leatherheads I got the impression that maybe it was stretching itself too thinly and in to many directions all at once.  The film is part sports film, part romance and part screwball comedy.  The film does a modest job at balancing the three but it also lags in gaps.  Leatherheads defiantly is ambitious, which I can’t flaw, but it doesn’t really succeed at achieving its goals either. 

            The film tells the tale of a washed up pro football player and coach in the early days of football, Dodge Connelly (George Clooney).  Dodge’s team is in danger of going under for good, as no one has much interest in professional football in the 1920’s.  While Dodge is struggling a young war hero, John Krasinski, is having huge success as an all star college player. Seeing his success Dodge thinks if he can get this hot shot college kid on his team then he might have a chance of keeping the team together.  An obstacle in his way is a quick witted report played by Renee Zellweger who is sent to uncover dirt on the young football stud.  Soon Clooney’s character is put in direct competition with Zellweger as they both want different things from the collage star.

            Naturally as romantic comedies go the two rivals, Clooney and Zelwiger, fall for each other and love blossoms.  As far of this film goes, that is maybe the best part of it.  When these two stars are together they have some real chemistry with one another.  The two exchange lines with one another with reel charm and ease.  The one liners they exchange with one another really do go back to the days of 1930’s screwball comedies.  Now they are no Carey Grant or Katharine Hepburn, but for today’s standards they might as well be.  Clooney is really working his charm to the extreme hear and Zellweger is really lively.  Watching the two stars verbally spare with each other was really very enjoyable.  The scenes where they just exchange comic dialogue with one another is the best part of the film. 

            As for as the football aspects go I felt the game scenes were only ok but provided little laughs.  If anything the football aspect seemed to hurt lots of the films strength.  In too many scenes the film gets bogged down in the details of how pro football came to be.  It seemed that it was almost from another movie and that the comedy was harm because of it.  Long stretches of the films subplot about the formation of the NFL slow down the comic magic that was shown early in the film.  There were too many dull scenes about pro footballs formation and far too little of Clooney and Zellweger.     

            As far as the film goes it is a fairly competent one, and Clooney proved to me again how talented he is as a director.  His direction is solid and he really does know what he is doing.  Its not on the same level of his last film, the masterful Good Night and Good Luck, but still this film shows off Clooney’s skills.  The film also had a nice kodachrome look to it and flet like the twenties.  Any fault I have with the film can not be blamed on Clooney, as he is solid as both director and actor.  The source of the films problems is that the script looses focus in many parts and becomes uneven.  The script began to be consumed with the background of football and instead it should have focused on comedy.  This caused the film to really lag in about two parts of the for me.

           In all laughed a good amount in this film and smiled for a good portion more.  Sure there are sections of this film that are absolutely dull and ruin the momentum but there are just enough good scenes to enjoy the film.  The only real fault I can find in with the film is that the script should have been tighter and less bloated about how pro football came to be.  If the film would have focused more on the screwball comedy aspects and put the two stars of the film together more often then may have been a better film.  Over all it is not an entirely bad film and I would mildly recommend it for the charms of the two stars, along with a few funny scenes.  

¾ Stars

It's Been Awhile

Well I have been out of commission now for some time now and I have not posted a review in some time.  Well if anyone even reads this thing anymore that is about to change.  Now that my school and work are smoothing out again I will begin to write regularly again.  So brace yourselves.