An Apatow schlub played by Jason Segal is dumped by his longtime girlfriend Sarah Marshall and to rid himself of his grief he takes a vacation in Hawaii only to realize that his girlfriend and her new beau, a lothario rock star, are staying at the same hotel. Hilarity ensues.
This is the 1st classic movie of 2008. The best and funniest of the year so far. I noticed three quarters of the way through this film that I had stopped laughing so hard. I thought about it and realized that it wasn't because the movie had become less funny, I had simply started to feel so much for the characters. I had become invested in how the story would turn out for the people in it. There was real suspense. I cared. I sincerely wished that the nice big schlub played by newcomer Jason Segal would end up with the nice pretty girl played by Mila Kunis. The last time I had cared so much about a romance I was watching "Pride and Prejudice." I think that says alot for an alleged crass, obscene, sometimes gross-out comedy.
Not surprisingly this superior comedy was produced by Judd Apatow the most prolific creator of great comedies in our time. He has an immense talent for scouting new talent and providing them with the proper vehicles. In this movie he gives writer/star Jason Segal his first chance as a leading man and screenwriter. And he strikes the motherlode. Jason Segal, you might remember, has played bit parts in other Apatow flicks (remember him stark naked on the sidewalk after the earthquake in "Knocked Up") and was part of the original cast of the one season wonder TV show "Freaks and Geeks." Apatow had tried to get him better roles before but apparently the studios balked. I think it had something to do with marketing. How do you sell a big softie with average looks who gets his biggest laughs by writhing on the floor crying. He's an original character and as Roger Ebert pointed out, marketing research is based on what has worked. It's very tough to market something that is new and original, no matter how good.
And how original this movie is. I think it proves one theory I've had (but unfortunately did not publish before it got proven.) That shock humor works both ways. You can get as big of laughs by being super nice as you can being super mean. It's what's unexpected that makes us laugh. So many people in this movie are likable super nice characters. The employees at the resort , Paul Rudd's stoned surfer, the newlyweds he meets (Jack McBrayer), his pediatrician (Steve Landesberg). It was a master stroke to make his girlfriend's new lover played magnificently by Russell Brand a really cool guy too. Having him not be a complete jerk adds to the complexity of the movie a ton. Even Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell) isn't all bad. She gets the 3-dimensional character treatment too. (She also gets jokes, most of which are clips of the TV show she's in aptly titled 'Crime Scene: Scene of the Crime' where she plays a hard boiled detective opposite a gruff Billy Baldwin.
The nicest character though comes from a truly unexpected source. It's the resort customer service rep/love interest played by Mila Kunis in the best role she has ever had. Mila Kunis, you may remember, has specialized in playing self-absorbed idiots (That 70's Show, Family Guy). This performance is a complete departure from everything I've ever seen her do. She is smart, she is funny, and she is super sweet. She gives perhaps the best performance in a movie with a half dozen great performances and reminds me once again how plenty of good actors are stifled and stuck in bad scripts.
Rounding out the ensemble is the always hilarious Bill Hader and Jonah Hill, who I think also gives his best performance (never has he been so subtle.) The ability of this screenplay to juggle so many characters and give each of them good material is impressive. It speaks to the skill of Jason Segal as a writer and his humility as the star. The director and editor also make good choices. Notice how many funny lines are actually said offscreen. ("Dracula!") An inferior editor would probably have shown it and rendered the dialogue less funny.
Overall this is a great production of true warmth and comedy. There certainly is alot of sex but I have never been more comfortable in saying that it wasn't exploitative or gratuitous. (Jason Segal certainly shows the most himself.) The rest of this summer's comedies have had the bar raised high. I wonder if the heavyweights Adam Sandler, Steve Carell, Mike Myers, Jack Black, Will Ferrel, Pixar, Ben Stiller, and Eddie Murphy can match the newcomer.
No comments:
Post a Comment