Movie Review: Forgetting Sarah Marshall

By Sarah Vasques
17:14, April 18th 2008
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Movie Review: Forgetting Sarah Marshall

There has been a visible development of romantic comedies, leaving in the past the stories focusing of the fragility of women in search of their soul mates. The alteration of the genre brought into the viewers’ attention the vulnerability of men and their yearning for love. Even though we cannot say for sure that this constitutes an evolution for the movie genre, it is definitely an essential change that would still keep them charming.

This week-end premieres a romantic comedy of the new kind, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” It is sufficient to add that its producer is Judd Apatow, to reveal other details of the movie. First of all, everyone is now expecting enough belly laughs to have a muscular fever soon. Then, we have the Apatow pattern: meeting, conquest, breakup, obsessions. Corroborated with the suggestive title, from the very beginning moviegoers already suspect that it’s an extremely funny story about a nerd who loses the girl of his dreams, and who is haunted afterwards by obsessive thoughts to win her back.

Directed by debutant Nicholas Stoller and based on the script written by Jason Segel (household names of “Freaks and Geeks”), “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” talks about humiliation and depicts love from the vantage point of the insecure male. Segel, from CBS’ comedy series “How I Met Your Mother,” is also the protagonist of the movie; this role perfectly suits him, as it appears as a prolongation of his part in the sitcom, still clumsy and craving to be in a couple.

The movie is generously rated ‘R,’ since nudity scenes are abundant; and since we’ve mentioned that this comedy focuses on the male drama, the female cast members keep all their clothes on, while the protagonist drops the only towel covering his body.

Peter (Segel) is a composer for a TV show in which stars his girlfriend, beautiful Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell). But his dependency reaches unbearable limits for her, so his girlfriend of five years dumps him (and he dumps his towel). Heartbroken, Peter’s self-indulgence deepens in tears, anger, casual sex and reruns of some TV shows. This lasts until brother Brian (Bill Hader) suggests that a change of scenery might bring some improvement.

Therefore Peter leaves for a secluded Hawaiian resort of which he heard Sarah talking. To his great surprise, Sarah didn’t forget about the location either, being on vacation with her new boyfriend, British rock-star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand). He overcomes his astonishment with the help of a surf instructor (Paul Rudd) and a hotel waiter (Jonah Hill, who alongside Rudd, are members of the Apatow stock company) and most importantly, with the help of sympathetic hotel clerk, Rachael (played by Mila Kunis). The latter becomes his new love interest, and, even though Sarah breaks up with her rock star and tries to turn back to him, Rachael remains the chosen one.

British stand-up comedian Russell Brand is the refreshment of the movie, excelling in being tremendously funny. Egocentric, he is the center of the universe wearing black leather pants. Even though “Sarah” does not outstrip “Knocked Up,” “Superbad” or “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” in terms of amusement, Brand is sufficient to state with certainty that the movie is entertaining. 

The less fortunate trait of this kind of romantic comedies, focusing on the male drama, is that the feminine characters do not excel in anything besides looking good. This might constitute a major drawback for the genre, losing some of the feminine audience; however, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” is amusing and charming enough to keep the ladies in front of the silver screen.  

Movie Type:Comedy
MPAA Rating:R for sexual content, language and some graphic nudity
Directed By: Paul Rudd, Kristen Bell, Jason Segel, Mila Kunis, Russell Brand
Cast:Nicholas Stoller
Released: April 18th, 2008 (wide)             



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Forgetting Sarah Marshall

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