Peter Bretter (Jason Segel) is a musician working on the music of a popular crime TV series, starring Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell). Peter also has been dating Sarah for 5.5 years and he is still very much in love with her. That’s why he is devastated when she dumps her for another guy. Peter gets seriously depressed and despite the common sense his stepbrother Brian (Bill Hader) tries to talk into him, he tries to get over Sarah by going to bed with any woman he meets. When he realizes this is not the cure, he decides to go to Hawaii, thinking that maybe an exotic vacation might help him cheer up.
However what he finds in Hawaii is his ultimate nightmare, as Sarah and her new boyfriend, obnoxious but extremely popular British rocker Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) are there on vacation. Sarah is uncomfortable but Aldous couldn’t care less whether Peter was there or not. So Peter’s vacation is off to a terrible start, except for the one fact. The hotel desk clerk/guest manager Rachel (Mila Kunis) is nice, gorgeous, fun and has a good sense of humor. So in between trying to get over Sarah, meeting the weird but funny hotel workers (stoned surfer Chuck, the Aldous-obsessed waiter, sea turtles and fish-loving bartender, gentle but gigantic food server and the even weirder hotel guest- the newly married, devout Christian who is having sexual problems with his wife and sharing them all with them) and romancing Rachel, Peter’s Hawaii vacation gets crazier and much more complicated than he ever envisioned.
If I had to use one word to describe Forgetting Sarah Marshall, that word would be hilarious. This movie is one of the best comedies I have seen. It is original, funny, cute, entertaining and romantic all at the same time. While this is not your typical romcom, it is definitely not your typical crude comedy etiher. The writer of the film is How I Met Your Mother and I Love You, Man star Jason Segel. While the comedy series How I met your mother never hit home with me, I knew Jason Segel had comedic talent when I watched I Love You, Man. However as it turns out, Jason can also write marvelous comedy as the writing credits of this hilarious film are his.
Yes, the movie does contain some typical romcom elements: Such as the guy tries to get over a girl and then meets another girl and we root for him to get the second girl. But this movie is never all about Peter trying to hook up or end up with Rachel as the supporting characters are always ready in the background to make you laugh. I had a laugh out of every single character in the film.
And while the humor includes male nudity, sex, awkward sex attempts, mentions and implications of blow jobs , sex pointers on the beach and more, Jason Segel has managed to make everything funny and not disgusting.
The Cast:
It is also fun to see a cast you are familiar with. There is a big chance the actors will look very familiar to you.
*Chuck the surf instructor is played by Paul Rudd who you may have known from his movie roles in Clueless, The 40-Year-Old-Virgin, Knocked Up, Role Models, “I Love You, Man”, I Could Never Be Your Woman or his co-starring role in Friends as Mike Hannigan. Paul Rudd is charming and can be funny in any role. While he is not exactly what you can call a diverse actor, he does pull off comedy well.
*Jason Segel stars as Marshall on the hit comedy How I Met Your Mother and has been Marshall since 2005. And he does share some movies with Paul Rudd.
* This is the first time I see Mila Kunis in a movie as I am more familiar with her as Jackie from That 70’s Show. She is playing a pretty different character here and she really is good.
*Sarah Marshall is brilliantly played by Kristen Bell, who I had never seen her play a “bitch” before. She is famous for her title role in the detective TV show Veronica Mars that went on for 3 seasons. She is also the voice on Gossip Girl. While she is never seen, her voice is present in every episode. She also starred in movies When in Rome, Couples Retreat and the sort of spin-off of Forgetting Sarah Marshall- Get Him to The Greek. Get Him to The Greek is a comedy written and directed by Nicholas Stoller, who also directed Sarah Marshall. It features Russell Brand as Aldous Snow one more time. While Russell hit the target here, I am not sure I can take him through another movie. But I guess Nicholas Stoller deserves a chance as he wrote the scripts of Yes Man and Fun with Dick & Jane, two of my favorite Jim Carrey movies.
*It’s refreshing to see Jonah Hill appear in a movie without Seth Rogen around. While I don’t particularly like him, he doesn’t bother me in small doses. You might remember Jonah from Knocked Up, Funny People or The Invention of Lying.
*The stepbrother Brian is played by Bill Hader, a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live. He has stints on two Saturday Night Live episodes I covered: One stars Jon Bon Jovi and the other Gerard Butler. Trust me, if you see those stints, you will recognize Bill Hader.
There is another SNL cast member on the show: Kristen Wiig. She keeps getting small roles in movies. You can also see her in Whip It and Ghost Town.
7.4 on IMDB, voted by over 70.000 voters. I have no objections.
Trivia: In the fictional tv show that is starring Sarah Marshall co-stars a male detective who is played by William Baldwin, one of Alec Baldwin’s brothers. And there is very little Jason Bateman cameo as well who co-stars with Kristen Bell in Couple’s Retreat.
