Review of Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) by Kgbelliveau91 — 21 May 2011

When musician Peter Bretter breaks up with his long time actress girlfriend Sarah Marshall he decides to take a rewarding trip to Hawaii to let loose and start over. When Peter learns that Sarah and her new boyfriend Aldous Snow are staying in Hawaii (at the same resort he is) things begin to get awkward for Peter and Sarah, but with the help of Rachel the hotel receptionist and different island locals Peter may be able to get over his break up with Sarah before the end of the trip.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall has the Apatow Productions tag on it, and it looks and feels very similar to a lot of other Judd Apatow produced films. The storyline is a well established; it is a break centered story about two characters that were no longer meant to be together. Forgetting Sarah Marshall as a film does a good job of telling its stories, with a few great laughable scenes as well as some very emotional moments between Peter and Sarah.

Written by How I Met Your Mother star Jason Segel, Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a realistic spin on the romantic comedy genre. In most romantic comedies the couple is breaking up but it is strictly a result of one of the parties involved. With this film it is much more than that, we see during one of the many tense scenes between Peter and Sarah that they both had faults and there was stuff going on in their relationship that they both were unhappy with. It made the film feel that much more real and engaging simply because you realize that despite the fact you want to see Peter rebound and figure his life out, he is not perfect and could have tried a little harder at times. Jason Segel who both wrote and starred in the film, proves that he is more than just a great comedic actor, he is also an off the wall comedic writer. He proves that you can get rid of some of the old adages of a certain genre while keeping the core foundations of a good film to fit into said genre. Segel makes the dramatics of the break up in what is classified still as a romantic comedy. Segel also proves to have great chemistry with his cast mates, most notably, Mila Kunis. At times it may be a stretch to believe a romance can fully blossom over a week or so, but in this case it seemed legit. At first it was different between the two, she was the girl who worked at the hotel and did not want to see him sad or weeping anymore and so she hung out with him offered him companionship. The relationship between Peter and Rachel on screen is one that makes sense, despite the fact you know that the relationship may end up going a little faster than most. It is easy to believe in Jason Segel and Mila Kunis falling for each other on screen because it comes off as natural and charismatic between the two of them. None of their scenes seem forced or unbelievable, so kudos to both of them to making what has become a cliché of the rom com genre not so tedious and apocryphal.

Like most other comedies, Forgetting Sarah Marshall has that set of supporting characters that are far more memorable than any of the leads. Russell Brand is whacky and off the wall; his character of Aldous Snow is definitely memorable. Brand plays the self indulgent rock star perfectly; Snow is a man who tries to give people life advice when he really does not have a handle on his own life. Brand is good in the role, because he has that rock star image himself. Paul Rudd does a good job as Chuck the surfer dude, he has a very small part, but there are a few scenes involving him that are funny. However it was Jonah Hill as the awkward restaurant waiter that got a few good laughs.