Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Directed by Nicholas Stoller
Reviewed by Rob Fatal
Contrary to the title, Forgetting Sarah Marshall has little to do with forgetting and has a lot to do with remembering exactly who you are in the face of adversity. And while the film borders on corniness during its run, director Nicholas Stoller and actors Jason Segel, Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Russell Brand manage to pull off what could have been a very common film.
Main character Peter Bretter (Segel) is dumped at the opening of the film by his girlfriend Sarah Marshall (Bell), an up-and-coming TV star. Director Stoller and writer Segel do not waste time dabbling in building up Peter and Sarah’s relationship; instead they go straight for the comedic jugular by starting the film with the breakup and Peter’s subsequent trip to Hawaii to get over the mess. Flashbacks of Sarah and Peter’s relationship and sincere acting help bring the audience emotionally up to speed with Peter. Upon arrival in Hawaii, Peter discovers he is in the same hotel as Sarah and the man she has left him for.
Sarah’s new fella, Aldous Snow (played quite well by Russell Brand) at first really bothered me. Aldous is supposed to be a self-obsessed, womanizing British rock star uber-concerned with saving the environment in his netted t-shirts and tight black leather pants. During the first act of the film, Aldous slithers around and spreads eagle performing on TV and stage as an over-exaggerated caricature of a rock star.
It seemed as if Brand didn’t want to study current self-obsessed rock stars [and there is fertile text for this research these days] to try and find a true to life parody of this persona. Instead he opts to give us his rendition of the stereotype of what a self-obsessed rock star is supposed to act like. But, as Brand is forced to share screen time with Segel, Bell and the mature and fiery Mila Kunis (as Peter’s new love interest Rachel), he begins to work and shine as a main feature of the film (particularly with an obsessed resort cabana boy played masterfully by Superbad’s Jonah Hill).
In fact, most of this cliché plot survives solely on the acting, namely by the supporting actors. Besides the main characters, Apatow favorites like Paul Rudd as a poser surf instructor, Jack McBrayer as a honeymoon timid groom and Hill all give the film that strong supporting signature flavor that has made films like The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up and Superbad successes.
Main characters also weigh in heavily at times. While Peter’s nude shenanigans are funny for only so long, some serious moments of joy and sadness (usually within minutes of each other) are good to keep the audience attached emotionally. Bell as Sarah gets some moments to turn her seemingly one dimensional devil woman into a complicated character who, for a moment, grips the audience’s sympathy as she explains to Peter that it was his giving up on life that pushed her to leave him. It is these genre and character-challenging moments, placed strategically by writer Segel, that help Forgetting Sarah Marshall escape the fate of being another cliché date-comedy film set in Hawaii.
Overall, the performances in Forgetting Sarah Marshall have stomach burning from laughter moments as well as you and your date saying “awww” moments. And when this happens throughout the theater, hasn’t the film done its job? That was a rhetorical question and the answer is a resounding “yes”.
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