The Best Films of 2008

Number Three - FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL

It takes a keen eye to find depth in a screwball comedy about a heartbroken young man, searching for love in Hawai'i, but Forgetting Sarah Marshall is easily the funniest and one of the most genuine movies of the year.

Peter, a composer working on a rock opera about Dracula, is dumped by his girlfriend, Sarah Marshall, a popular television star who leaves him for a famous, flamboyant rocker named Aldous Snow. When both Peter and Sarah and Aldus end up at the same resort in Hawai'i, Peter has to curb his emotions and try to enjoy himself while his ex parades around in front of him with her new beau. Peter ends up falling for a hotel clerk played by Mila Kunis who helps him forget his ex and enjoy himself.

This movie rides the coattails of the popularity of Judd Apatow, co-creator of Freaks and Geeks and director of Knocked Up and The Forty Year Old Virgin. Jason Segel, the writer and star of Marshall, has worked with Apatow since Freaks and Geeks and currently has a staring role on the surprisingly funny CBS series How I Met Your Mother. In a period of a few years, Segel has established himself as a hilarious and talented actor and his first foray into screenwriting has proven to be a success. Not only is Marshall funny, but it is also a genuine portrayal of a sensitive male character--not the oversexed, frat-boy chauvinist image that has come to represent males between the ages of 18 and 30--who is trying desperately to pick up the pieces of his life after having his heart shattered. Segel's character is brooding and troubled and his subtleties, interrupted by bouts of intentionally melodramatic weeping, make him one of the most empathetic and likable characters in romantic comedy history.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall is the best written romantic comedies of the year. There will be no nominations for this screenplay, but its original spin on the same old story of heartbreak and new love is both entertaining and thoughtful. The movies features unforgettable music by Russell Brand and original works by Segel himself. Easily the most lighthearted but endearing comedy of the year.