Forgetting Sarah Marshall was easy...the rest of the cast, not so much.

This weekend afforded the time to finally make it out to the theater and hopefully this will be the start of a string of good movies hitting. With May just around the corner, expect the big movies to start appearing in two weeks. However, this weekend saw a couple of smaller movies leading the way. Though it wasn't the leader at the box office over the weekend, "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" held up incredibly well and I'm still laughing as I refer back to a couple of scenes in my mind.

From IMDB.com, here is your spoiler free plot outline: Devastated Peter takes a Hawaii vacation in order to deal with recent break-up with his TV star girlfriend, Sarah. Little does he know Sarah's traveling to the same resort as her ex ... and she's bringing along her new boyfriend. Classic tale, done just a little bit over the top.

With any feature that has the name Judd Apatow attached to it in any form, you can expect an "R" rating, and this doesn't disappoint my friends. Although Mr. Apatow is only credited with a producer tag, some of the gang comes along for the ride. Jason Segel returns from his minor roll in "Knocked Up" to not only star in this film, but as the writer of the pic. The great thing about this film is that some of the more outrageous moments are based on actual events in Mr. Segel's life.

Returning from recent turns in Superbad are Jonah Hill and Bill Hader for minor supporting roles. Just seeing Jonah Hill makes me crack up before he utters a word, and Bill Hader's straight man gig provides great comic moments to boot. Paul Rudd pops up as the classic surf instructor, whom one would think would offer the life outlook; you'd be partly wrong. But I'm neglecting the three other leads: Kristen Bell in the namesake roll, Russell Brand as the new boyfriend and Mila Kunis as the hotel employee that takes Jason Segel's character under her wing.

Oh Miss Veronica Mars, how I've been waiting to see you on the screen in more than just the vignettes we see of you on Heroes. Of course, Kristen Bell as Sarah Marshall is not to be admired or sympathized with from the outset of the movie. You definitely get to see some of that bitchiness that made Kristen Bell famous on Veronica Mars. You also get to see a little regret and jealousy seep in during the film and she handles these emotional changes so well that you actually have to question if she's really feeling any of this or is the character disguising a malicious intent. One scene I've been debating on talking about here actually lets us see her side of the relationship and this, while allowing a little sympathy for Sarah, actually adds a dimension to Jason Segel's character, Paul Bretter.

Paul Bretter as played by Jason Segel is our hero, but in a way, an anti-hero that you want to slap a few times. Our hero has to spend most the movie wallowing in sorrow and trying to rediscover himself; one of the more oft used rom-com plots out there actually. If you are familiar at all with Jason Segel from "How I Met Your Mother", than you won't see a new character in this movie, it's almost the same character, just taken up a notch. Now that I think back, it seems like this guy plays pretty much the same type of character in all his major roles. Back all the way from "Freaks and Geeks" to "Undeclared" to this. Doesn't matter, because it works. I've got nothing to complain about, except perhaps the numerous flashes of his full frontal nude scenes.

I love Mila Kunis in this movie. It's something we haven't seen from her really and I sat there thinking that this may be close to what she's like. It's a nice, real world departure from Jackie on "That 70's Show" and obviously nowhere near her voice acting on "Family Guy". She provides a lot of grounding in this movie, where the goofy hotel staff is just that: goofy. Not to mention the three other leads that are clearly above and beyond in their roles, but her Rachel Jansen offset's their personalities by being human and vulnerable. Kudos Ms. Kunis.

The final leading role of Aldous Snow is played by Britain's Russell Brand. Let me begin by saying that his character really steals the spotlight nearly every time he opens his mouth. He was an absolute perfect choice for the character and I hope that it's not a once and done for American audiences. If you can cut through the English accent and his mutterings you will have a real treat. Pay attention, because sometimes it's a bit hard to understand. That might just have been the fact that I couldn't hear over the audience laughter.

Overall the movie really gave me the feeling of a lot of Adam Sandler's recent films. For example, "Mr. Deeds" and certainly "50 first dates". First you've got the revolving cast, much like all of Sandler's films and secondly, the background characters are the ones that are providing the majority of the laugh out loud lines and moments. Which I love! The reason being, you can center the plot on the four leads and then break away for a good shot at laughter without breaking the feelings and story that is going on. Additionally, the peripheral characters are allowed to be completely insane, ridiculous characters that are/do completely unsocial, crazy feats. You'll know what I mean when you are introduced to the honeymooning couple at the resort and all the resort employees.

To sum up, I really enjoyed "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and would recommend the movie to any person out there that doesn't mind over-the-top comedy and a little heart thrown in. Apatow fans shouldn't and probably haven't missed this film. I'm rating "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" with 4 dracula puppet shows out of 5 dracula puppet shows. It's worth paying for a weekend matinee.

I'm just saying,

Elijah