Forgetting Sarah Marshall is also a winner in the develop-ment of the title character's new squeeze, Aldous. Naturally when we're first introduced to him, the instinct is to hate him because Peter's the hero of the picture and he's a nice guy. Besides which, Aldous is the kind of woman stealer every guy hates: handsome, rich, and with his pick of women to choose from. He's seemingly got it all...but of course, he has to have your girl as well. However, as written by Segel(How I Met Your Mother, Knocked Up) and ably acted by Brand(St. Trinian's, Penelope), we soon come to find out that in spite of his sexual promiscuity, Aldous is a genuinely nice guy, which always makes for a more interesting character interaction than the standard jackass we're supposed to blow raspberries at from our seats.

     While Jason Segel manages to completely sell his charac-ter of Peter and Kristen Bell is solid as the titular character, by far the surprising standout among the cast is the beautiful Mila Kunis(Family Guy, Robot Chicken) as Rachel. Kunis doesn't just shine in the role of a completely believable and complex female character--she radiates sheer brilliance. Finally freed from the stilting shackles of That '70s Show, Kunis has a chance to flex her acting muscles and deliver a performance which is captivating and makes one long for her reappearance every time she exits a scene. In crafting the persona of Rachel, she becomes the embodiment of the dream girl every guy fantasizes about meeting while on holiday.

     While the cast is primarily solid throughout, it doesn't mean Forgetting Sarah Marshall is not without its flaws. For one thing, there is a minor subplot about a newly married couple on honeymoon who are having problems with their sex life. While such plot devices are usually the province of executive produc-er Judd Apatow(The 40 Year Old Virgin, Superbad), here it intrudes clumsily upon the central storyline. While it does produce some minor chuckles(the best of which comes in the ultimate resolution with a sexual tutorial by Aldous), for the most part it's an irritant and impediment. There is also an extended cameo by Jonah Hill(Knocked Up, Click) as a waiter at the hotel resort. While Apatow should be applauded for wanting to work with a regular stable of actors, here Hill's character provides extremely few laughs and his comic timing is off just a bit, as he seems bewildered and lost in his minor role.

     Overall however, the story is strong and almost too clever on some levels than what may be appreciated in order to give the film long legs at the box office. It takes clever shots at the conventions of cop shows like the one in which Sarah stars, first by pairing her with William Baldwin(Dirty Sexy Money, Danny Phantom) as her partner and saddling both with inane, cliched dialogue, then an even worse show where she teams with Juno's Jason Bateman. There is also an amazingly clever potshot taken at Kristen Bell's 2006 horror snoozefest Pulse, which possibly only those reading this review will actually get. For me, this was one of the biggest laughs in the film.

     Again, Sarah Marshall isn't exactly the type of comedy one might expect. But thanks to Segel's script and a strong direc-torial debut from Nicholas Stoller, a trip to your local cinema to watch this one will be an evening you won't soon forget.