By Fred Topel | Image property of Universal Pictures
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Here's another awesome Judd Apatow comedy. Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a modern Better Off Dead full of outrageous insight into human emotions and laugh out loud one-liners.
Review: Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Actually, it's the beginning that's awesome. From funny male nudity to sexual abbreviations that are totally clear, Forgetting Sarah Marshall is full of borderline inappropriate moments carried out to hilarity. The dialogue is straightforwardly outrageous, carrying nonsensical discussions to their logical conclusion.
Peter Bretter (Jason Segal) is a great comic hero, blatantly pathetic in his heartbreak. Sarah Marshall (Kristin Bell) is appropriately idealistic to be his ultimate partner, and his new love interest (Mila Kunis) is delightful and awesome. It's the random characters that get the biggest laughs though.
The environmental rocker (Russell Brand) is the first one you see and his sexual preachy rock suggests the world in which this film takes place. The honeymooning couple (Jack McBrayer and Maria Thayer) have their own whole subplot about painfully discovering sex, and that is the most hilarious. Even Bretter's one night stands are memorable characters, in only one scene each.
It's real too. Talking about what you fixate on when you miss someone, what seems important when your life suddenly loses a big piece, it's all true. Just like John Cusack and his photo hangers, Forgetting Sarah Marshall points a finger at reality with a surreal wink.
The film loses a big of momentum when Bretter starts putting his life back together. Then it's just a standard romance. There are a few funny tangents, but all the stunty set pieces are just mediocre. The uncomfortable moments between Bretter and Marshall falls by the wayside for a long time, and that's the heart of the story.
It is nice and romantic. That part of it is heartfelt. The sexual resolution is ballsy and real and at least Bretter is honest about things and doesn't just fall victim to a misunderstanding. But there aren't many laughs during these stretches.
It's sexy though. All those scenes of women in coitus, hiding just the parts you want to see, are hot. And I've just got to saw Wow about Kristin Bell in a pink bikini. I mean, she's cute, but where did she get those abs?
Forgetting Sarah Marshall is the perfect breakup movie though, for all its flaws. It may have a hard time balancing the heart and the laughs, but it doesn't punk out on itself.
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