Apr
24
“Forgetting Sarah Marshall” (Review)
Filed Under Movies
I’d actually been dreading this one. Full disclosure: I never get over any girl that breaks up with me. Ever. Well, maybe I do eventually, but nothing short of clubbing me over the head with a wrench will make me forget about an ex. I’m sure there’s something incredibly sad and creepy about that, but I prefer to think of it as romantic. Sadly, creepily romantic.
“Forgetting Sarah Marshall” is the latest film from producer Judd Apatow, the Dino De laurentiis of comedies about emotionally-stunted schmendricks that hook up with women light years out of their league. “Anchorman,” “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” “Knocked Up,” “Superbad” — his output has made him a wunderkind of the sex comedy even if you don’t know his name; posters for his films often colloquially credit him as “The Guy Who Brought You [Insert Latest $100 Million Grossing Judd Apatow Film Title Here].”
With “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” one of the Apatow regulars, Jason Segel, rotates into the lead role of Peter, a composer of incidental music on a hit TV show that stars his girlfriend, the Sarah Marshall of the title, played by Kristen Bell. Peter’s a bit of an unmotivated homebody, who eats Fruit Loops out of a salad bowl. It’s something of a miracle that his relationship with Sarah has lasted 5 years. But she finally breaks it off in an early scene in which Peter’s man-parts are displayed prominently; later in the film, incidentally, Sarah laments to Peter that she doesn’t want to get ahead in the entertainment business by having to show here naughty bits, although this movie will definitely make Segel (and his naughty bits) a star.
Peter tries a few half-hearted one-night stands to get over Sarah, but ultimately hops a plane to Hawaii and winds up at the same hotel as Sarah…as well as her new British rocker boytoy, Aldous Snow (Russell Brand). This being a Judd Apatow production and not a chapter from my own life, Peter immediately meets an astoundingly attractive hotel receptionist and broken wing, Rachel (Mila Kunis), who also happens to be single and fascinated by his long-in-the-works Dracula rock opera with an all-puppet cast.
For a guy who never took a breakup well, I found a lot to like about “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.” Segel’s performance — from his own script — definitely feels lived-in. One thing that’s sadly lacking in the asinine “Superhero Movie” types of films is that comedy comes from pain, and not just the kind of pain you feel when you bump your head on something; or the kind of pain I feel when I realize people actually got paid to make “Superhero Movie.” No, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” is a comedy that masochistically revels in the pain that is the end of a relationship. We’ve all been there, but it’s never been nearly as funny as this.
-Brad Lohan
Comments
One Response to ““Forgetting Sarah Marshall” (Review)”
Leave a Reply
Forgetting Sarah Marshall is one of my favoirte movies of the year and one of my all time favorite romantic comedies. Check out my site at http://mysocialstandards.blogspot.com/ to read my full review.