“Forgetting Sarah Marshall”

Rated: R

Starring: Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Russell Brand

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Directed by Nicholas Stoller

Run time: 112 minutes

4 out of 5 stars

In a bizarre sort of way, a new R-rated, Judd-Apatow-produced film is becoming an oddly comforting sight. The movies may deal with characters discussing sexual conquests in a depraved manner, but in the end, the movie will have a lot of honesty and a great big heart.

“Forgetting Sarah Marshall” is no exception to this rule. Although it’s not nearly as explosively funny as “Knocked Up” or “Superbad,” it still provides ample laughter and a sweet story that’s equally honest and hilarious.

Peter Bretter (Jason Segel), a composer, and Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), an actress, have been a couple for several years, both working on a show called “Crime Scene.” One day, Sarah comes home and breaks up with Peter, reducing his life to a series of one-night stands and insane crying outbursts.

His stepbrother advises him to take a vacation, so Peter goes to Hawaii, where he gets to the hotel and discovers Sarah is staying there with her new rock star boyfriend Aldous (Russell Brand). Luckily, he meets Rachel (Mila Kunis), a hotel employee who helps him, yes, forget Sarah Marshall.

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The movie doesn’t exactly offer too many surprises or insane plot twists, which is to be expected from an Apatow production. What it does extremely well is show the interactions between adults and the deep-seeded inadequacies men feel about themselves after breakups.

Segel, who also wrote the script, knows a thing or two about male heartbreak and several of the events in the film are ripped from his own life, including the hilarious opening scene in which he bares it all (literally and figuratively) for the camera, multiple times.

It also helps that director Nicholas Stoller has assembled quite a cast. Brand and Segel do well in the male roles, especially Brand as a crazy, drugged-out rock star.

The real stars here are the women. Despite being a tad underwritten, both Bell and Kunis are adorable and have great comedic timing, which is hard to have and be noticed for in the male-dominated world of comedy.

Watch the dinner scene where the two couples are forced to eat together for some great meta-humor targeted directly at Bell’s career.

The movie is almost like a reunion for all of the Apatow regulars. Paul Rudd and Jonah Hill pop up in small roles that provide big laughs before they even say anything. Jack McBrayer from “30 Rock” also appears as a recently married man who can’t please his wife, leading to some of the movie’s best (if a bit superfluous) moments.

If the film has a flaw, it’s in its familiarity. Not much of the material on display here hasn’t been covered in the previous Apatow efforts, and the formula he has created runs the risk of growing stale. The film isn’t nearly as funny as the previous films Apatow has produced, despite the fact that this is more of a romantic film than a comedic one.

It’s too easy these days to flood the market with a product if it’s successful, so Apatow would be wise to take a step back and maybe let his films come out a bit farther apart, so as not to run the risk of tiring out his fans.

It sounds like faint praise to say “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” is middle-of-the-road Apatow, but it’s not, since it’s still funnier than 80 percent of the comedies released theatrically. It’s a great date movie, a good movie for guys, and a wonderful movie for anyone who was desperate to ever see a Dracula musical with puppets.

Wes Lawson can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 275 or [email protected].