Though I’m loath to kowtow to the tagline “from the guys who brought you…” in movie trailers, it’s hard to deny the catchphrase’s usefulness in identifying good films when it comes to the Judd Apatow comedy factory. The hitting streak continues with Forgetting Sarah Marshall, written and starring Apatow apprentice and How I Met Your Mother star Jason Segel. And while the big news making the rounds is that Segel shows his man parts during the movie, the more important thing is that he shows a great deal of heart.

Segel plays Peter Bretter, a composer for a wildly popular CSI-type show. When Peter’s TV star girlfriend, the eponymous Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), dumps him (while he’s in the buff), he heads to Hawaii to forget about her, only to find out that he’s staying at the same resort as Sarah and her new rocker lothario boyfriend (Russell Brand).

It’s a predictable predicament, sure, but Segel’s writing sparkles in what easily could have been a “Judd’s buds vacation in Hawaii” kind of movie. Forget about the nakedness: Peter is far more than a schlub with limited prospects; he’s a good guy blindsided by romance gone bad. And to Segel’s credit, he humanizes both Sarah and her new man. She’s far from a bitch and he winds up being a wildly enjoyable character, especially in the inevitable scene where he and Sarah have dinner with Peter and the bubbly hotel concierge (Mila Kunis) that he woos.

As a leading man, Segel is more adept than either Seth Rogen or Jonah Hill, the leads in Apatow’s last two movies of Marshall’s ilk. He goes through the same man-boy to man transition as all of Apatow’s characters, but his maturation seems natural. Bell and Kunis play well as adversaries, and a host of regulars (Paul Rudd, Hill, and Bill Hader) round out a cast for whom “comically talented” is an understatement.

At two hours, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, like several of the offerings from under Apatow’s umbrella, feels longer than it should be. But the payoffs, sprinkled throughout the movie and especially well placed in the film’s final act, a Dracula musical, make it worth the wait.

Rating: * * * * of 5

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