All Movie Guide:
Plot Synopsis by Jason Buchanan
In desperate need of a vacation after being unceremoniously dumped by his TV-star girlfriend, a man travels to a lavish Hawaiian resort to nurse his wounds and forget his heartache, only to discover that his ex and her handsome new boyfriend are currently staying at the exact same island hot spot. Peter Bretter (Jason Segel) may be just another struggling musician, but for the past six years he's been dating Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), one of the hottest stars on television. Sarah is everything in the world to Peter, so when she kindly but firmly tells him that they should each go their separate ways, he is absolutely devastated. Later, after attempting to salvage his ego by awkwardly attempting to become a womanizer and nearly losing his job because of a nervous breakdown, an emotionally fragile Peter attempts to put the past behind him by escaping to the sun-soaked beaches of Oahu. While at first it seems as if Peter has discovered the perfect prescription for a bad case of lost love, his plan soon turns to dust when Sarah and her new rock-star boyfriend, Aldous (Russell Brand), turn up at the exact same resort. Though accepting Sarah's lavish new lifestyle won't be easy for the crestfallen Peter, the laid-back companionship of flirtatious resort employee Rachel (Mila Kunis) -- not to mention a continuous regimen of fruity cocktails -- goes a long way in mending the wounds of a broken heart. Forgetting Sarah Marshall was penned by Segel and produced by Judd Apatow. Fun with Dick and Jane screenwriter Nicholas Stoller makes his directorial debut. The cast also includes Paul Rudd, Bill Hader, Jack McBrayer, and Jonah Hill.
The thing about predictable stories is how they hit their marks and what new inventive things they can do with the structure. Did they do that here? Not really. But as was the case with my recently viewed "Baby Mama", it is the cast that saves the film from it's standard Rom-Com archetypes. Especially the supporting cast.
I have praise for Jason Segel, whom I have enjoyed since watching "Freak and Geeks" for the first time . My interest solidified after his portrayal as the overly-emotive possessive boyfriend Eric on "Undeclared". I suffer through the strained "Friends"-wannabe How I Met Your Mother every week because of Segel's winning personality and my desire to see him succeed as an actor (though co-star Neil Patrick Harris has all the funny lines). I am glad that he had some success with this film as a actor and as a writer (he is slated to pen a new Muppets film). But, when I finally caught up with this film on home video, I was disappointed. I guess I was expecting something a little more...something.
It is hard to pinpoint what that something is. The film is funny. The cast is solid. The supporting even more so. Bill Hader and Paul Rudd both steal their respective scenes. Jonah Hill, who should be grating/wearing out his welcome by now, is solidly funny. Jack McBrayer needs to be in more things period.
Perhaps it's the A story which is the problem, and this is no disrespect to Segel as a writer (because the film is very funny). It works as a disservice to the film to make Kristin Bell so unlikeable because she is very gifted comedienne. This does not get exhibited in this film, partly because she is saddled with the bitch ex-girlfriend role and because there are no jokes written for her. It's great to see her with a big role in a major motion picture, but I feel her talents are wasted here.
I feel similarly strained about Mila Kunis. It's great to see her as the main love interest in a big movie. Funny as the aggressive Jackie on "That 70's Show", she gets to exhibit a softer personality in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and it works in her favor. But the film does her a disservice, by having some out-of-character moments concerning an ex-boyfriend. Maybe the film is trying to say something about "not knowing everything about someone". It just feels like a character inconsistency that isn't explored enough to make that point.
It's these kind of out-of-character and ridiculous moments of the film; like Russel Brand's character and music, Segel falling off a cliff, playing the Dracula musical to a receptive crowd in a bar, -- that do a disservice to the genuine moments of the film. I was especially turned off by the "joke" which was Segel allowing Bell to blow him near the end of the film. The motive and intentions behind these actions are mystifying and not really in keeping with the rest of the film. While the film may be aiming at having a scene that proves Segel has finally "lost feelings" for Bell, it's executed as if only to provide a complication to Segel and Kunis' budding relationship.
These "misunderstandings" that serve as the final conflict in most romantic comedies seem to be the hardest to pull off realistically, lately. Modern crowds are becoming more aware of them, most often because they do not reflect real life and/or if they are ridiculous are not effectively sold. By and large, romantic comedies traffic in the ridiculous. The writers of these films (and television shows) need to become more adept at being able to effectively sell their conflicts. Because this deficiency is continuing the be the death knell for the genre.
I don't want this to sound as if I'm dissing Segel's talents as a writer, because I'm not. I'm a champion for his kind of off-color humor, especially when it's dressing up what feels like a golden-age era screwball comedy. I wish him luck with the Muppets film. I'm just trying to help push for a smarter romantic comedy era to emerge. Love is complicated in the modern age and there are many funny things that can be explored.
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