Movies

Forgetting Sarah Marshall Review

Paul Bretter (Jason Segel), a struggling musician, has just been dumped by his TV superstar girlfriend, Sarah Marshall (Kristin Bell). He desperately tries to forget her, dating other women and struggling with work, but when that fails, he hops on a plane for Hawaii. As he is checking in, he discovers that his ex is there with her new boyfriend, rock superstar Aldous Snow (Russell Brand). His vacation to forget Sarah becomes one disaster after another, as he constantly sees her, most of the time being mauled by her sexually voracious boyfriend. He makes friends with many of the staff at the resort who take pity on him and his situation. Front desk agent Rachel Jansen (Mila Kunis) in particular helps him try to get over Sarah. Of course, with Sarah as self-absorbed as she is, she gets jealous of Peter’s new friend.

Yet another Judd Apatow production, Forgetting Sarah Marshall is as good or better as his recent hits (40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up and Superbad). Indeed, this film is populated with actors from those films as well, from Paul Rudd to Jonah Hill. Jonah Hill does an excellent job as an obsessed waiter who stalks Aldous Snow at the resort. Russell Brand, playing eccentric musician Aldous Snow, steals nearly every scene he's in. Everything he does, from his words, to his facial expressions, to his ridiculous body language, is hilarious. In keeping with Apatow’s raunchiness, the film has plenty of crude jokes and filthy language, most of which is over the top and very funny.

 The movie has developed a series of viral websites supporting the movie, including one for Crime Scene (http://www.nbc.com/Crime_Scene/), Infant Sorrow (http://www.myspace.com/officialinfantsorrow) and Matthew the Waiter (http://www.myspace.com/matthewthewaiter). Be sure to check all three out, as they have little music clips and scenes.