"Forgetting Sarah Marshall" is way easier said than done!

Rating: 10/10 (7 May 2009)

In "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell) is way easier said than done! As the film opens, Sarah, a famous television actress, has just dumped her boyfriend of five years, struggling musician Peter Bretter (Jason Segel, also the film's screenwriter). Heartbroken and unable to Forget Sarah Marshall and after having slept with almost every woman in town in an attempt to dull the pain, he takes the advice of his stepbrother Brian (Bill Hager) to go on vacation to Hawaii, to try to get over his former love.
Just to get this out of the way, the early scenes featuring Peter trying to get through the break-up are pretty painful, but also demonstrate that Segel, in a truly breakout performance, is a truly great actor capable of dramatic depth, as well as brilliant comedic timing. You really feel sorry for Peter and truly sympathize with his plight, which makes our connection with him genuine. Like most features that comedic impresario Judd Apatow has been behind ("The 40-Year-Old Virgin," "Knocked Up," "Superbad" and my personal favorite, "Pineapple Express"), "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" has those elements/themes of love & companionship, boys being dragged kicking & screaming into adulthood, friendship, romance, and "bro-mance" that has made his films so popular, and returning some sense of dignity to the comedy genre.
When Peter arrives in Hawaii, he finds that his ex-girlfriend Sarah Marshall is also vacationing at the same hotel on the same island he is staying at it. And not only that, Sarah is there with her new boyfriend, self-absorbed rock star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand). Love or chance, take your pick, it seems that everywhere Peter goes, he also runs into Sarah and Aldous. So he goes to about trying extra hard to forget his ex, and so he begins hanging out with Rachel Jansen (Mila Kunis), the cute hotel desk clerk who knows how to show him a good time during her off-hours with some of the other oddball characters on the island.
"Forgetting Sarah Marshall" is a brilliant, touching, and heartfelt romantic comedy. Director Nicholas Stoller finds a lot in the layers of Segel's screenplay, which as is true for all of Apatow's productions, rides a fine line between raunchiness and comedic excess. Boys will be boys, as is also true of all Apatow productions. But these boys, and girls, are given a lot of emotion and compassion and sensitivity, and are indeed flawed individuals (in other words, they're real people, just like us), something usually lacking in these sorts of movies. The acting is fantastic from the cast, especially Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, and Russell Brand.
"Forgetting Sarah Marshall," you got to love this movie!
10/10