Forgetting Sarah MarshallFrom IMDB
Cast
Jason Segel ... Peter Bretter
Kristen Bell...Sarah Marshall
Mila Kunis ... Rachel Jansen
Russell Brand... Aldous Snow
Bill Hader ... Brian Bretter
Liz Cackowski...Liz Bretter
Maria Thayer... Wyoma
Jack McBrayer... Darald
Taylor Wily... Kemo
Davon McDonald... Dwayne the Bartender (as Da'Vone McDonald)
Steve Landesberg... Dr. Rosenbaum
Jonah Hill ... Matthew the Waiter
Paul Rudd ... Chuck
Kala Alexander...Greg
Kalani Robb... Helpful Hawaiian Waiter
Synopsis
When you've got a good job and a world-famous girlfriend, you've got it all, right?!? Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a Coming of Age story told well and acted better. Peter Bretter (played by Jason Segal and also the movies writer) is a man too comfortable, sitting on his couch-world, to grasp that everyone must grow up and in the process, change or people will leave him behind.
Peter writes/performs the musical score to a successful TV drama in which his girlfriend, Sarah Marshall, is the lead actress. Sarah leaves Peter, and thus starts Peters journey with the help of friends, to realize that he didnt really like the life he was living. They help him forget Sarah Marshall to grow and change his life for the better.
Peter's half-brother (Bill Hader as Brian Bretter) is the reflection Peter sees in the mirror and is reluctant to embrace --in a relationship with responsibilities to a partner that goes beyond physical presence. [Interesting to note the evolution of Mr. Segal from his supporting role as Jason in 2007s Knocked Up another coming of age movie for 20-somethings...the movie is filled with internal compare/contrasts to itself and the Actor's other works and real-life asperations. How much is intentional and how much is coincident is left to the viewer, but this is a smartly written adult comedy.]
Kristen Bell as the title's "Sarah Marshall" does well with the material -- her character is mult-dimensional as she is both the villain and the victim. While her character emotionally hurts Peter, she has cause as revealed in a fairly depicted series of flashbacks. [It is interesting to note, Sarah's desire to break out from being a successful TV actress to movies is an interesting simile to Peter's desire to break out from being a successful TV mood musician to aspiration to become a Rock Opera composer and Ms. Bell plays it well from the heart as if she also longs break out of the Veronica Mars role to her first leading actress role.]
But it is not just Peter that Sarah is running from; she has run into the arms of Aldous Snow (Russell Brand), a famous lead singing rock star. Snow almost steals the movie, with his philosophical musings and ability to play the guy you want to hate but wish was my best friend despite stealing my girlfriend role perfectly. In some ways Peter sees Snow as the worldly guy he wishes he was, but Peter realizes that he cannot be like Snow and force the world to take him as he is and be successful, but rather adapt to the world in his own terms to succeed. [Of course there are parallels when Snow plays to the crowd and to his girl and when Peter plays to another crowd and his girl...the men are more similar on stage than they realize, which may be why Peter likes Snow.] At the critical point, it is Snow's unwillingness to grow that has him to move on and gives the opportunity he thought he sought -- the chance to reunite with Sarah.
However, prior to getting to that point in the story, Peter gets off his real and proverbial couch to meet a series of people whom help him "forget" Sarah. Pride, self-worth and compromise are explored well without bogging down nor being too serious. Central to Peter's growth are Chuck (Paul Rudd) and Rachel Jansen (Mila Kunis). Chuck is the surfing instructor who sees the hurt behind Peters eyes and teaches him to stand on a surf board (another analogy for standing up for himself/getting back up when one is knocked down). While played at times for laughs, there are real life-lessons in what Chuck, Rachel and the other characters offer Peter. Ultimately, Peter stands up and realizes that his affection for Rachel is real and worth the risks to help out a friend. Through them, Peter breaks out and becomes the man he learns he wants to be and achieves the personal satifaction and professional success he seeks.
The movie is rated R for (strong male and some female) nudity, sex scenes, language and alcohol use discussion about drugs. It is not recommended for young children.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall (Three-Disc Unrated Collector's Edition)Directed by Nicholas Stoller
Average customer review:
Product Description
Join the cast of Forgetting Sarah Marshall as they dare to bare all in this Unrated Collector’s Edition filled with more laughs, more adventure and way more fun!
Peter (Jason Segel) is a struggling musician who finds his world turned upside down when his TV celebrity girlfriend, Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), dumps him for a tragically hip rock star. It’s the hysterically funny look at how far one man will go to forget a girl – and all the fun he finds along the way!
Product Details
* Amazon Sales Rank: #5 in DVD
* Released on: 2008-09-30
* Rating: Unrated
* Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
* Formats: AC-3, Box set, Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
* Original language: English
* Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
* Dubbed in: French, Spanish
* Number of discs: 3
* Running time: 118 minutes
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Breaking up is hard to do--but that doesn't mean you can't have some belly laughs about it. Forgetting Sarah Marshall provides that rare treat: a romantic comedy about breakups, that is both romantic and funny. The laughs, especially from writer-star Jason Segel, are both heartfelt and raunchy, and the film is just unexpected enough that it keeps the viewer's attention till the end. The touches of producer Judd Apatow, who's famously retooled rom-coms to appeal to guys as much as women, are woven throughout the film, but Segel's script, reportedly based on many of his own experiences, is fresh and original. And adult. Forgetting Sarah Marshall features male genitalia laffs presented in unexpected and human ways (the nude breakup scene is played for giggles but also deep poignancy), and the language and sex scenes are strictly for grownups--and rightly so. Segel's script, and his performance as Peter, show that he understands the true nature of adult relationships, which provides the refreshing difference between this film and some of Apatow's other crude creations. The cast is sublime; Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) plays title character Sarah, a self-absorbed actress, and Russell Brand is her new British honey who accompanies her to--what are the chances?--the exact same Hawaiian resort as Peter, who's nursing his broken heart. Mila Kunis plays Rachel, the resort employee who gives Peter a reason to hope, and Paul Rudd is the surfing instructor who gives him his own brand of heartfelt advice ("When life gives you lemons, just say 'F--- the lemons' and bail," he says cheerily). The pacing is screwball, and the absurdities fly (a "Dracula" musical puppet show, and a surprisingly lovely Hawaiian version of "Nothing Compares 2 U"). Nothing the viewer will forget any time soon.--A.T. Hurley
Customer Reviews
Best Comedy of the Year
I immensely enjoy Tropic Thunder, but Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a little bit funnier and has many (surprisingly) clever scenes. And Russell Brand was absolutely priceless.
My question is this: what is the unrated edition like? I have seen many people review this film, and I know what the film is like (I saw it 5 times in theater!), I just want to know if the unrated is good as well or if it makes the movie crappier like Superbad unrated. Thanks!
Forgetting Sarah Marshall is too funny!
All I have to say is its very funny and Im buying it payday. HEEEEEEEY
A Movie You Won't Soon Forget
I saw pretty much every worthwhile movie that hit theaters this year, and this one is easily in the top three. There are many thing that make this movie great, so I thought it would be helpful to make a review out of that list.
1. Jason Segel wrote and starred in this movie. From the way he acted in this movie and the way he talks about it, you can tell that he put his heart and sweat into it. Every minute of the movie is funny or emotional, and is driven by his perfect performance as the main character. Like Superbad before it, this is a hilarious and vulgar movie with real heart.
2. Kristen Bell. That's reason enough.
3. The oddball supporting characters were perfectly cast, and they really add the proper spice to this movie. There are so many tiny subplots going on, none of which are lost in the mix, that make this a rich movie worthy of the praise that Roeper and the other big name critics are giving it.
4. A Dracula musical with puppets. Why are you not buying this movie on DVD yet?
5. If I'm going to give so much props to both Segel and Bell, I have to give it to the actress who utterly surprised me here: Mila Kunis. I was never a big fan of That 70s Show, but she did great here.
6. It truly has that Judd Apatow flavor. I'd even say it's better than most of his popular films. It--at the very least--ties with Superbad, which I thought was fantastic.
7. Laughing is fun. You'll do a lot of it here.
I usually give a quirky little conclusion to wrap up my reviews, but this list pretty much stands for itself. Buy the DVD. You won't regret it.
9/10
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