Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)

The broken heart to new love arc is generic, but constant pops (flashes? see Peter’s hilarious naked confrontation with Sarah) of goofy humour keep the film feeling fresh and engaging throughout, never taking itself too seriously (see the failed symbolic cliff jump). Other highlights include the CSI parody (Crime Scene: Scene of the Crime), Paul Rudd’s surf instructor (“Oh, the weather outside is weather”), and McBrayer’s nervous new husband constantly cursing the confounding human anatomy.

6

Jupiter Ascending (2015)

The self-discovery journey has a passive and bland protagonist, the space politics plot is interesting but confusing, and the shallow romantic arc feels purely obligatory. Nothing works, and the serious tone, poor dialogue (“I love dogs”), and mediocre turns and VFX don’t help. With the ending repeat of Jupiter’s life on earth I almost forgave it all as a weird character growth metaphor, but then wolf-man boyfriend comes zooming in again on his sky skates and he’s grown wings now and.. yeah.

2

The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018)

The central friendship is passably engaging but doesn’t explode with chemistry and elsewhere, there’s just a dumb plot (MacGuffin-driven with a lazy climax–see the out-of-nowhere appearance of the cops to arrest the right bad guy), generic secondary characters (Russian villains, shoehorned-in love interests), bland character drama (neither character’s insecurity is that believable), and mostly forgettable comedy (passive-aggressive Tess and the thumb-stick are probably the best bits).

2