After last year’s Knocked Up and Superbad, the western world has come to expect uproariously hilarious film fare from prodcer Judd Apatow and his protégés. And with the recent release of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Apatow proves that he knows what makes us laugh.

Marshall stars Jason Segel as Peter, a composer who has just been dumped by his girlfriend of five years, up-and-coming television star Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), in one of the most awkward and pathetic breakup scenes I’ve ever had the uncomfortable luck to witness. Devastated by the ruination of his relationship, Peter escapes to Hawaii, where he just so happens to run into none other than Sarah with her new boyfriend and British rock star, Aldous Snow (Russell Brand). While in Hawaii, Peter meets and falls for the hotel check-in girl, Rachel (Mila Kunis), and the requisite hilarity then ensues.

Drawing on his own life experiences (Remember that awkward and pathetic breakup scene? It was based on a true story.), Segel has created a script so full of quotable quips and awkward-funny situations that it completely distracts from the unremarkable story. The boy-loses-girl-and-then-finds-love elsewhere plot is straightforward enough, but its lack of innovation makes it feel hackneyed. And the stale story is slightly longer than it needed to be. Luckily, the dialogue goes a long way in making us think we’re watching something fresh on the screen.

Apatow has a penchant for producing movies that focus on an awkward and charmingly slovenly male lead trying to wend his way through the worries of romance. In the tradition of Steve Carell’s 40-year-old virgin and Seth Rogan’s ganja-rocking slob in Knocked Up, Segel’s Peter is the type of guy no woman dreams about. He’s unfit, lazy and has questionable hygiene. But under his forgettable exterior is a genuinely nice guy who just wants someone to love and to love him back. And it’s this simple desire for unconditional affection that will keep audiences cheering for Peter’s luck to change.

Segel embodies Peter with his admirable ability to induce empathy rather than sympathy for his series of unfortunate events. Viewers will feel for Peter because they have once felt like Peter. His profound heartbreak makes him the poster child for relationship underdogs and completely relatable for the majority of the population. Who wants the untouchable celebrity to have happiness when it results in the anguish of a fellow everyman?

Of course, all anguished everymen need pillars of strength. Jack McBrayer, Paul Rudd, and Bill Hader make up a cast of characters that are supporting in more ways than one. They not only provide much-welcome diversional comedy to Marshall, they provide much-needed moral support for Peter. As a naïve newlywed, an unwitting surf instructor and a well-intentioned stepbrother, the three help Peter forget Sarah Marshall. Bill Hader is especially funny as Peter’s stepbrother Brian who uses tough love to get Peter to move on with his life. The exchanges between Peter and Brian are some of the film’s funniest moments, and there are quite a few to choose from. Appearances by Superbad’s Jonah Hill and Devon McDonald as Dwayne the Bartender also help to keep the comedy coming.

As for the objects of Peter’s affections, Bell and Kunis both give solid performances, although Kunis’s fun-loving Rachel is far more endearing a character. But Bell is earnest in her role as the insufferable Sarah Marshall and deserves kudos for taking on such a hate-mongering part. Not even Brand as boyfriend Aldous is as unlikeable as Sarah Marshall. Regardless, Kunis steals the female lead of the film, despite the movie’s title. And it’s Kunis’s comedic timing and chemistry with Segel that make the movie a true romantic comedy.

Even with a fairly unoriginal story, Forgetting Sarah Marshall manages to entertain and keep entertaining. Every scene elicits gut-wrenching laughter to the point that one could forgo a round of ab crunches in favor of seeing this film. The Apatow gang has gathered a loyal following with its unique brand of discomfort-turned-comedy, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a fine example of why. Marshall is one film that we won’t soon forget.