FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL — *** 1/2 — Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis; rated R (vulgarity, profanity, sex, nudity, drugs, violence, slurs, brief gore)

The raunchy 2005 hit "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" helped make a star of Steve Carell. And last year's similarly salty comedy "Knocked Up" did nearly the same thing for Seth Rogen.

There's also a good chance that "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," which comes from some of the same creators, will do the same thing for Jason Segel (TV's "How I Met Your Mother").

He wrote and stars in this appealing romantic comedy, which features some very big laughs and is considerably sweeter than the trailers would make it seem.

But as with all the movies produced by Judd Apatow and his crew, it's also extremely R-rated, especially in terms of sexual material. There's quite a bit of it, in fact.

Segel stars as Peter Bretter, a television theme composer who's been in a long-term committed relationship with popular television star Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell).

However, the ambitious Sarah just as quickly breaks up with Peter, sending him into a self-destructive, self-pitying spiral.

Needing to get some space, Peter decides to take a trip to Hawaii. Unfortunately, he accidentally books a room at the same hotel where Sarah and her new boyfriend, bad-boy British rocker Aldous Snow (Russell Brand), are staying.

That's enough to push the emotionally fragile Peter over the edge. Thankfully, kind-hearted concierge Rachel Jansen (Mila Kunis) and the rest of the hotel staff are determined to give him the best Hawaiian vacation possible.

Segel allegedly based some of this material on his bitter breakup with his ex-girlfriend, "ER" star Linda Cardellini. He also gives himself a lot of the best lines.

But Kunis is very warm and likable, and Bell impresses in a few surprisingly dramatic moments.

Not everything works here, though. Apatow regular Jonah Hill is irksome as an adoring Aldous Snow fan.

But "Saturday Night Live" regular Bill Hader steals scenes as Peter's stepbrother. And Maria Thayer and "30 Rock's" Jack McBrayer are terrific as a clueless newlywed couple. The two of them almost merit their own movie.

(There's also a Dracula-themed rock opera sequence that features puppet characters. It's a hoot.)

"Forgetting Sarah Marshall" is rated R for crude sexual material (references and sight gags), other strong sexual language (profanity and slang), simulated sex and other sexual contact, full male and partial female nudity, drug references (marijuana), some brief violence (fisticuffs, pratfalls and a surfing accident), a few racial and other derogatory slurs, and brief gore. Running time: 115 minutes.

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E-mail: jeff@desnews.com