Number One with a Bullet: Forgetting Sarah Marshall

April 23, 2008 by Lord Jason  Send to a Friend

After a little “recording” hiatus (ahem!) Jason is back in the saddle and reviewing every movie that America decides to spend most of their hard earned money on. This week:

Apatow strikes again.

Capturing the vagaries and complexities of adult relationships in a modern romantic comedy can be a difficult thing in these crazy post-9/11 times. With so many larger issues available for the aspiring filmmaker to tackle; the everlasting gobstopper of the war, the sag-titted economy, the seemingly endless questions about what is going on under Bret Michael’s do-rag, the jagged crags of the politics of the heart seem fairly safe territory to traverse these days. Unfortunately, these films often reduce the goals of women and men to the least common denominator. You don’t need to watch the newest Cameron Diaz film to know that every woman wants to get hitched, and you certainly don’t have to watch any of the foul spawn of the American Pie films to know that guys are only interested in getting their collective dicks wet. Judd Apatow has made an industry by flipping these tired devices on their heads and asking the question: “What if the GUY wants to get married?” Genius, I know. But this is exactly why Forgetting Sarah Marshall is so goddammed refreshing. The goal isn’t to get laid, get married, or even get the girl back. The goal, as stated in the title, is simply to move on with one’s life.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall stars and was written by Jason Segal, who you may remember as the creepy drummer dude from the unforgettably cancelled show Freaks and Geeks. You may also remember him as Marshall from the best traditional sit-com airing on television right now, How I Met Your Mother. I remembered him from both. I did not, however, remember what his penis looked like from either of those shows. Luckily, FSM, being a rated-R film provides plenty of opportunity for glimpses of Segal’s member. In one truly unforgettable scene, Segal emerges from the shower only to be immediately dumped by actress Sarah Marshall(Kristen Bell). He is naked the entire time, which is in turn, both hilarious and humiliating.

So what is a man to do after getting out of a five-year relationship? Cry. A lot. And bang random broads. And, evidently, cry whilst banging random broads. After a few truly depressing and hilarious episodes of pillow talk, Peter(Segal) decides to go on vacation to Hawaii to get away from his memories.
Unfortunately, who happens to be in Hawaii? Sarah. With her new beau, a skeevy English rockstar named Aldous Snow(played by the English TV personality Russell Brand, a role not too much of a stretch for him, it seems), no less.
So there is the traditional set-up, man travels halfway around the world to escape memory of past love, only to find past love in place he travels to. What follows however, is not as traditional as other films. Sure there are the standard Apatow Players (Paul Rudd, Jonah Hill), and they just provide a few good laughs here and there as they usually do. But what really strikes one about the film is its surprisingly mature handling of people dealing with the break-up of a long term relationship in realistic ways. There really isn’t a villain here, there’s no gigantic row that makes people see the error of their ways. Everyone in the film has their legitimate motives, and it’s good to see none of the main characters reduced to caricatures, even the Snow character, which could have so easily slipped into parody.

Better than the realism, though, are the jokes. And there are some good ones, particularly a lot of in-jokes made about Kristen Bell’s career. And since I’ve been completely obsessed(i.e. in love) with her since Veronica Mars, I’m happy to see she’s such a good sport about it after all. Whereas Jason Segal might be able to forget Sarah Marshall, I believe if she even dumped me, I’d be reduced to a quivering pile of useless jelly. And not even the good kind of jelly. I’d be one of those uneaten packets of orange marmalade you find at the hotel breakfast bar when you’re the last person to arrive.
I mean, who eats orange marmalade anyways?

My reaction: Awesome (4 out of 5)

Next week: bring the funny! Tina Fey gets someone else preggers in Baby Mama, and Neil Patrick Harris continues to be the best gay guy playing uber-straight men in entertainment today in Harold & Kumar, Surprise! Smoke a Lot of Weed. Til then I’m enjoying the weather. Stay focused, kids.

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