Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)

Peter (Jason Segel) and Sarah (Kristen Bell) are a dream couple – she is a gorgeous actor who stars in a TV cop drama and he is the affable composer boyfriend who creates the soundtrack for the show. Peter does not see it coming when Sarah breaks it off with him. In an attempt to get over her he throws himself into the arms of other women, but when this doesn’t work, he takes a holiday to Hawaii. On arrival, he discovers that Sarah is staying there with her new boyfriend, British rocker Aldous Snow (Russell Brand). Luckily for Peter, he gains the sympathy of the hotel employees, notably Rachel (Mila Kunis).

This is my kind of humour. Well, there are a lot of things that I find funny. But this, with hilarious pathos, a fair whack of slapstick, a certain amount of filth and more than a little sentimental claptrap – love it. I’m a big fan of most of the cast, and I just really liked the way this was all put together.

The Five-Year Engagement (2012) Film Review

I was completely convinced that this was an awful film. When will I allow myself to recognise that I quite like romantic comedies and that I like pretty much everything that Jason Segel does. It should not have been a surprise to me that I enjoyed this film. Yet it was.

Tom (Jason Segel) proposes to his girlfriend Violet (Emily Blunt) a year after they meet. But her academic career and opportunities take him away from his work as a chef. Life is passing them by and gradually, their resentment for each other grows.

Romantic comedies are changing; or at least, there is now this other branch of romantic comedy. A branch where the characters are extremely flawed. Where affairs or break ups are bigger. And where you really question why characters are doing any of the stuff they are doing. But, for me, I like the messiness of these films. Especially when they have lots of ridiculous slapstick. I really like slapstick when it’s done well.