Joanne looks at Noah before their first kiss in Nobody Wants This.Kristen Bell has a deep history with the romantic comedy genre, and she has finally made a worthy follow-up to one of her best movies with Netflix’s Nobody Wants This. Bell began her career in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, but it was not until 2008 that she landed one of her breakout roles. This was in the romantic comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall, wherein Bell plays the eponymous ex-girlfriend. In the movie, a man named Peter takes off to Hawaii after a tragic breakup with his girlfriend, Sarah.

After Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Bell acted in several more romantic comedy films, including Serious Moonlight, Couples Retreat, When in Rome, and You Again. While this trend helped establish the actor’s strength in this genre, she spent many years never really making a rom-com movie that was as great as Forgetting Sarah Marshall. This has changed, as Bell finally has the perfect follow-up to her 2008 film, over 15 years later.

Nobody Wants This Is Kristen Bell’s Greatest Rom-Com Since Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Nobody Wants This Is Getting Great Reviews

Noah and Joanne hold coffee mugs while talking in Nobody Wants This
Noah and Joanne walk next to each other in Nobody Wants This episode 4 Nobody-Wants-This Joanne eats at a dinner table in Netflix's Nobody Wants This Kristen Bell smiling in the Nobody Wants This trailerNoah and Joanne hold coffee mugs while talking in Nobody Wants This Noah and Joanne walk next to each other in Nobody Wants This episode 4
 Nobody-Wants-This Joanne eats at a dinner table in Netflix's Nobody Wants This Kristen Bell smiling in the Nobody Wants This trailer

The Netflix show Nobody Wants This is Bell’s best rom-com in years. The 10-episode series tells the story of an unexpected romance between Rabbi Noah Roklov (Adam Brody) and an agnostic woman named Joanne (Bell). So far, Nobody Wants This is getting great reviews following its premiere on Netflix. The show holds a 94% critic’s score on Rotten Tomatoes and an 89% audience rating. Critics loved the relationship between the leads, with multiple outlets praising the chemistry between the stars and their characters.

All 10 episodes of Nobody Wants This are available to stream on Netflix.

And it is this evergreen quality that makes Nobody Wants This Bell’s best rom-com since Forgetting Sarah Marshall. While Bell has aged over a decade since her Forgetting Sarah Marshall role, bringing a more refined acting talent, there is something about the show that falls into the mold of classic 2000s rom-coms. The relationship between the leads is believable and dynamic, telling an interfaith love story that adds to the story’s intrigue and tension. Even critically, it has gotten better reviews than Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which has an 83% Rotten Tomatoes score.

Nobody Wants This Finally Gives Kristen Bell The Lead In An Acclaimed Rom-Com Again

She Was Not The Romantic Lead In Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Mila Kunis, Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, and Russell Brand in the poster for Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Nobody Wants This is Bell’s best rom-com since Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and it also stands out from the 2008 feature in a big way: it gives Bell the chance to be the lead. Though Forgetting Sarah Marshall is an iconic example of Bell’s work within the genre, she is actually not the romantic lead; she is the ex who the protagonist is trying to get over. This time, the audience is rooting for Bell as the lead in Nobody Wants This. This shift from supporting actor to lead makes Nobody Wants This in some ways an even better example of Bell’s work in the genre.