He's only be the producer, but the fingerprints of comedy’s latest Renaissance man Judd Apatow are all over this bloke-friendly romcom penned by his pal Jason Segel.

Populated with Apatow cronies - Knocked Up’s Paul Rudd, Superbad’s Jonah Hill – plus extra laddishness from Cockney wag Russell Brand and much bonking, breaking-up and general awkwardness, it promises to be a fun trip.

Prepare to be underwhelmed. Segel’s inconsistent script and sloppy direction from first-timer Nick Stoller make forgetting Sarah Marshall easier than you’d hope.

Some will recognise the writer-star from How I Met Your Mother. But with only a peripheral role in Knocked Up, his appearance here will put many movie-goers in mind of Eighties B-lister Judge Reinhold.

But the world needs a new Judge Reinhold like it needed the old one, and this could certainly do with a livelier protagonist than Segel’s wounded puppy-dog Peter Bretter.

Peter writes the incidental music for a TV crime show which stars his girlfriend Sarah (Bell) and - in a flogged-to-death gag - William Baldwin. Sadly, Peter has become incidental to Sarah too.

Ditched after five years, Peter takes himself off to Oahu to drown his sorrows in surf and cocktails... because naturally the first place you’d go to mend your broken heart is a tropical island swarming with loved-up honeymooners.

It all begins in tears as Sarah is already there with Aldous Snow, a Russell Brand-like pop prat convincingly played by Russell Brand.

Luckily, Rachel the gorgeous receptionist (Kunis) takes pity on Peter and puts him in a $6000-a-night suite. Free of charge.

He’s also taken under the wing of every other staff member at the resort from Rudd’s sieve-brained surf instructor to Hill’s Snow-worshipping waiter.

The attention is mystifying, though it would be a great day for mankind if fun-loving honeys like Rachel really did take interest in mopey slobs like Peter.

The ‘Knocked Up scenario' is just one of the situations randomly borrowed from the Apatow handbook (see also: visit to straight-talking doctor, cold comfort from vaguely concerned relatives, awkward dinners for four, noisy bedroom shenanigans…).

Other ideas are either discarded (Rachel’s ex-boyfriend), contradictory (Peter helps kill a pig for a hog-roast then later develops an aversion to the sight of blood), or never fulfil their potential (Peter’s much-vaunted Dracula musical is funny peculiar rather than ha-ha).

The comedy of embarrassment is an art in itself. But as Segal exposes himself to no comic effect fr the umpteenth time and as Stoller labours towards the inevitable conclusion, it should be noted that this whole set-up was pulled off with more wit and verve in a single episode of Frasier.

With characters it’s hard to care for and fresh laughs in short supply, the forgettable Sarah Marshall suggests that the Apatow guarantee could be about to expire.

Elliott Noble