Opening Day: 28 August 2008

Synopsis:

Struggling musician Peter Bretter (Jason Segel, "How I Met Your Mother") has spent six years idolizing his girlfriend, television star Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell, "Veronica Mars"). He's the guy left holding her purse in paparazzi photos and accidentally omitted from acceptance award speeches. But his world is rocked when she dumps him and Peter finds himself alone. After an unsuccessful bout of womanizing and an on-the-job nervous breakdown, he sees that not having Sarah may just ruin his life.

To clear his head, Peter takes an impulsive trip to Oahu, where he is confronted by his worst nightmare: his ex and her tragically hip new British-rocker boyfriend, Aldous (Russell Brand), are sharing his hotel. But as he torments himself with the reality of Sarah's new life, he finds relief in a flirtation with Rachel (Mila Kunis), a beautiful resort employee whose laid-back approach tempts him to rejoin the world. He also finds relief in several hundred embarrassing, fruity cocktails.

Movie Review:

The Point

Forgetting Sarah Marshall is cramped with various best and worst case scenarios that could be a bit hard to swallow. As a comedy, the best bits are already shown in the trailers and there are hardly any side bursting jokes in this movie. But as a romance flick about breakup, this movie offer nice characters to relate to and offer encouraging perspectives for the jilted.

The Rant

Very few of us actually have to go through a celebrity breakup (where everyone can read about it on the news) or a movie breakup (where the worst and best thing that could happen, will happen). Thankfully we have this Judd Apatow production which once again features relatively unknown casts and TV stars (think Superbad, Knocked Up & The 40 Year Old Virgin) that’s raking in big turnover and fandom.

Is Forgetting Sarah Marshall that unforgettable or forgettable?

Personally; after The 40 Year Old Virgin, films from the Apatow production rarely gets more than a chuckle from me. It’s not the jokes that they are trying to milk are stale (tho the setting of ugly men getting hot women is getting very stale) but it’s just not hitting that right spot. Beside the breaking up in nudity gag that already shown in the trailer, I tired to laugh at the hapless young man who is not enjoying love making during the honeymoon and a stoned out surf coaching who is dishing lessons in life and forgetting what he said in the next moment but it was just not that funny.

Jokes aside, what managed to hold my attention were the overly cramped breakup scenarios. As seen in the trailer, our hero Peter (Jason Segel) who had decided to take a holiday and ended up not only in the same country, the same resort and even next door to his very recent ex girlfriend Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell) and her new rock star boyfriend Aldous (Russell Brand). It’s like winning 4 4Ds in a row but since it’s a Hollywood romance flick, such improbable scenarios will always happen and Forgetting Sarah Marshall tried to squeeze in as much as possible.

Scenarios such as a hot babe receptionist (played by Mila Kunis from That ‘70s show) becoming a potential love interest for our jilted average looking protagonist (not a spoiler as it’s shown on the trailer and upcoming dvd cover). That’s definitely wishful thinking for most but since it’s a feel good movie; it will make a purely great indulging escapism.

Another aspect that helped make this escapism more enjoyable in the midst of rather flat jokes would be the relatively unknown actors that inherited their characters. Jason Segel is simply loveable as the sorry loser who can’t get over the breakup. Kristen and Mila are hot eye candy that make the whole “getting dumped and getting hooked” concept easier to swallow. However the one who truly stole the show was Russell Brand who did a rendition of a British rock star who is too full of himself and even in his sober state; operates with a mindset that another level from normalcy. Viewers who enjoyed his performance will be please to know that his character will be appearing from a spin off movie titled “Get him to Greek” which involves a newly-graduated insurance adjuster trying to get the not so sober Aldous to the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.

Last but not least, even though Sarah Marshall is cramped with far out characters and scenarios that we mere normal citizen of the world might never encounter in our lifetime; it does pack with a couple of encouraging messages for those all those jilted ones (even the non celebrities). A positive vibe on how to pick oneself up; could even be shared to those who are not suffering from the break up blues.

Overall, the whole ordeal of Forgetting Sarah Marshall was forgettable in the jokes that they tried to create. However this feel good rom picture does left a memorable mark in the chain of events that happen in Hawaii and the various peculiar characters that transpired those moments. Go Catch!

Movie Rating:



(A mildly funny comedy that tried to cramp too much at one go but with likeable characters and settings, Forgetting Sarah Marshall might just be what the doctor order for the jilted ones)

Review by Richard Lim Jr