Ryan McNeil
What’s the right way to handle getting dumped? Are we supposed to hole ourselves up, stay in sweatpants, and become a blubbering mess for a few weeks? Are we supposed to lean hard on our friends and family, and have them prop us up until we can stand on our own two feet again? Or are we supposed to dig down deep, and try to use the dumping as a way to find out who we really are, and what we’re really made of? Well according to FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL, the correct answer is a strange mish-mash of all three. That and being naked…awkwardly naked.
We begin at the end, so to speak. As the movie starts, we watch the messy break up of Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell) and Peter Bretter (Jason Segel). The break-up is a messy one, primarily because Peter is the one getting dumped, and he isn’t taking it so well. He bargains, he sulks, he weeps, he mopes…he even tries to remedy the problem by hooking up with as many women he can. When none of that works, he decides to go on vacation to Hawaii to try and get himself sorted out. Unfortunately for Peter, he finds himself staying at the same hotel Sarah has booked herself into – and worse yet, she’s staying there with her new boyfriend. But before Peter can run away crying from the situation, he’s persuaded by the desk clerk Rachel (Mila Kunis) to stay, try to have a good time, and try to put Sarah behind him.
Since he’s traveling alone, Peter is forced to be social and make friends with perfect strangers. Considering his emotional state, he actually does a pretty good job of it. Before long he’s become buddies with a hotel waiter, a bartender, a newlywed husband who’s intimidated in the bedroom (hilariously played by 30 Rock’s Jack McBrayer), and a stoner surfing instructor. Oh yeah, and he timidly gets cozy with Rachel too.
The movie is a star-making turn for Jason Segel, so far best known for his work on TV’s How I Met Your Mother. He comes from the same breed of big lug as Seth Rogen…the difference being that Segel cleans up a bit better, and has a touch less of a stoner in him (Only a touch mind you). Segel makes much of what he does and says very funny through being honest and polite. More than once, he finds himself in a situation where many of us might start to lose our composure and even begin to yell. Not Segel. His tone and expression show nothing but discomfort, but he remains a nice guy, even if it means he’s stuck with the lousy end of the lollipop.
Where the movie succeeds the most, is dealing with the break-up of Sarah and Peter. Break-ups are painful: painful to experience, and often painful to watch unfold. They can turn bitter, uncomfortable, and often just make you want to leave the room. Not only that, but often in the heat of a break-up certain details get omitted…and then when those details finally come to light, you have to go through the bitterness and awkwardness all over again. Instead of subjecting an audience to that, FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL does it’s best to tone down the awkwardness. The story of their break up comes to light in bits and pieces, but every time one of those bits or pieces is revealed, it is immediately off-set by an absurd and truly funny counter-point. It’s a trick that works very well, since it keeps the story light and doesn’t let it get bogged down with relationship melodrama.
FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL is the latest film from director/producer Judd Apatow (producing in this case). He’s the brains behind recent hits such as THE 40-YEAR OLD VIRGIN, KNOCKED UP, and SUPERBAD. His brand of humour really seems to striking a chord with audiences lately, a brand that is often crude but offsets the silliness with some genuine heart. However, sometimes this creative direction leaves me perplexed. The somewhat racy humour (and the nakedness mentioned in my opening paragraph) landed the movie an 18A rating in Canada, and R in the US. Judging by the huge amount of minors who snuck into my screening, I can’t help but wonder if the rating will elbow out the movie’s target audience.
Good review, man. Yeah, a solid movie. Can't believe I forgot to mention Jack McBrayer in my review, dude is hilarious. The gag that really cracked me up, aside from the Dracula song, was the awkward dinner scene where they're talking about the cell phone murderer movie that Kristen Bell starred in and how Russell Brand keeps insulting the shirt he's forced to wear. Good stuff.