I try to forgive movies I see on airplanes or in hotel rooms on account of distracting viewing circumstances and aspect ratio foibles and whatnot. Watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall last night and... I don't get it. Please to explain?Kristen Bell, so fine on Veronica Mars, is only half there. Jason Segel so adorably hapless in Freaks and Geeks is giving a good performance (you can see the degrees of depression) but doesn't do so with much star flair. Bell's rocker boyfriend and Segel's wisecracking step-brother are there for the comic relief but laugh out loud not so much. For a comedy it's so mellow. One character (Jonah Hill's) talks about weed the moment you meet him and it seems to me that the whole movie is loving the cannabis. It thinks its funnier than it is (maybe I needed the moviegoing crowds to boost the laugh ratio?). It's mellow. It gave me the munchies.
Freaks and Geeks > 40 Year Old Virgin > Knocked Up > Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I realize I'm just scratching the surface of this troupe of friends output but is there a diminishing returns problem going on with the Judd Apatow gang?
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Apatow seems to produce/write/whatever really similar movies at this point. Freaks and Geeks is wonderful, but Paul Feig is equally responsible for its awesomeness.
I mean, his movies all seem to be about an immature guy in some state of arrested development trying to get with a girl, or get over a girl. And there's lots of pot.
Indeed that Freaks & Geeks is still the pinnacle.
And I know I still haven't perfected the timed posting thing. Hey everyone, check out below for the first part of a pro/con Oscar thing we're doing
Maybe they shouldn't stick THAT MUCH to what they know while writing...
I wanna see some baked women! They DO exist!
There are so many very funny young actresses around (anna faris, christine taylor, leslie mann, jennifer elise cox, blablabla) but when it comes to female charcters in movies, hot always stands before funny...
Of course that's how Hollywood works, but they (the Apatow gang) have enough money and influence to get "different" things through.
They shouldn't solely write for men OR just cast a woman in one of their man-roles.
oh boy...
Judd Apatow started believing his own ridiculous hype methinks. Entertainment Weekly sucks up to a lot of people a lot of the time, but I've NEVER seen them suck up to someone the way they suck up to Judd Apatow.
oh and i forgot to mention regina hall.
she's hilarious!
But remember that "Does the carpet match the pubes" joke? Paul Rudd was great in that movie.
true. When isn't Paul Rudd the best part of a movie? I mean besides I Could Never Be Your Woman ?
I think I liked the mellow. It wasn't roll off your seats kind of funny, but if you happen to know the career of Kristen Bell, then all the inside jokes are hilarious. Kristen Bell is like my Michelle, so I thoroughly enjoyed the movie.
I agree with the hierarchy of awesomeness that begins with Freaks and Geeks (and Kat is right in pointing out that Apatow gets way too much credit for "creating" F&G). Forgetting Sarah Marshall was funny, but not uproariously so.
I think it was Mike White who was talking about how Judd Apatow's movies are kind of homophobic, and I'm not particularly inclined to disagree. And it's not the type of homophobia where the characters are homophobic and we're all laughing at what jackasses they are. It's the variety where you can tell that the writer/director has some serious hangups regarding masculinity and maleness. Just saying...
I actually quite loved Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I loved that there were no real bad guys in it and that each character had their good and bad points. I loved the heartbreaking but funny scene where Jason Segal sings the song from his Dracula musical and I loved Paul Rudd (as always). I won't get into it too much, but the movie definitely worked for me.
Oh, but yeah, in reference to your main point, I agree that Judd Apatow and Co. have yet to reach "Freaks and Geeks" levels of awesomeness again.
I'm kind of with you.
I found the whole Vampire song strangely comforting. I'll tell you who I loved in this movie. That 70's show girl was fantastic.
It seems that every time I see a movie in a hotel room it makes me depressed. Even the comedies. Like for instance I watched Clerks II... and... well... yeah that movie is depressing. But I also watched The Mist and I found that incredibly depressing.
Um, have you SEEN "Pineapple Express" yet?!? I agree that "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" is, technically, a low for the Apatow gang but it's a high for any other current comedy creator. They are the best guys working in the genre today, leaving hacks like Mike Myers and Will Ferrell - I know, I know, he's worked with them, but not enough to be an official "gang member" - in their dust. If not for them, I'd swear off screwball comedies altogether.
I have to say I truly enjoyed Forgetting Sarah Marshall for several reasons that have been mentioned: Paul Rudd, Jason Segel's hapless/adorable performance, the goddess known to us mortals as Veroni..., I mean Kristen Bell, and so on. However, I enjoyed it most because it was relatable. In short, I AM Sarah Marshall, that bitch that dumped a sweet guy and tries to get him back in the end... Hey, I'm not proud of it, but my point is I simply LOVED the scene when Sarah Marshall gets to explain her side of the story. It was a little bit heartbreaking, but mostly very honest. Don't see that in most romantic comedies...
Actually, I loved Forgetting Sarah Marshall for the exact reason that you didn't Nat. I liked that it was mellow on the raunchy comedy because that way there were less distractions from a truly heartwarming story. I really like The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up and Superbad, but I never laugh at those movies, because I think Apatow's humor goes way too far, but once they focus on character, these films win me over, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall got me from the get-go, because they were great characters. Jason Segel and Mila Kunis make that happen more than anyone else in the film. I really enjoyed this film, as a story more than anything.
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