If you ever plan on going into a career in comedy, the first man to contact would be Judd Apatow. No producer has had more success in the last three years than Apatow, whose resume includes such box office hits as The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and Superbad. Each of these films also managed to turn the lead actors into superstars, with Steve Carrell, Seth Rogen, Michael Cera, and Jonah Hill all quickly becoming household names. And now Jason Segel hopes to join these three with the newest Apatow comedy, Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

The story follows Peter Bretter (Jason Segel), a struggling musician who has been dating television actress Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell) for five years. When Sarah breaks up with him, Peter sinks into depression and decides to go to Hawaii to get clear his head. Unfortunately for him, the resort he decides to stay at happens to be the same resort where Sarah is vacationing along with her new boyfriend, British pop star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand). At the resort, Peter meets Rachel Jansen (Mila Kunis), a hospitality manager who clearly has a connection with Peter.

Much like Knocked Up and Superbad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall succeeds by juxtaposing extremely raunchy humor and emotional scenes, injecting hilarity with heart. But this movie doesn’t tread into predictable territory like those two films did. I give credit to Jason Segel (who also wrote the script) for not completely victimizing his character and showing that the ending of the relationship wasn’t entirely Sarah’s fault.

Credit should also go to the ensemble cast who all give great performances. Outside of the lead roles, Jonah Hill has a hilarious bit role as a restaurant host looking to get his music recognized by Aldous Snow. Paul Rudd also makes an appearance as a daft surfboard instructor who gives Peter advice.

The film does have some flaws though. While it tries to move at a speedy pace, it still runs too long and could easily trim some of the meaningless, though funny, scenes off.

Overall, Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a very funny romantic comedy. Jason Segel should be praised for creating a fresh film that breaks genre stereotypes. Another hit for the Apatow gang, Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a perfect date movie that will certainly entertain both men and women.