Last night, I sat down in front of my entertainment center to watch Forgetting Sarah Marshall, starring Kristen Bell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand and Mila Kunis.
Let me begin by saying that I didn't hate the movie. I can't even really say that I disliked it. It is not on my Top 100 list (note to self: make a Top 100 list), but the DVD will stay in my DVD collection.
I knew going in that one of the most known scenes in the movie was at the very beginning, the Jason Segel nude scene. It may have had great shock value when it first hit the theater, but I found that it added very little, if anything, to the movie. I'm not into nudity for nudity's sake. The audience realizes that Peter is naked. We feel his embarrassment and awkwardness at having Sarah break up with him while he is skyclad. This was one time that the implication did a better job than the actuality.
While there are numerous bit characters that add flavor to the movie, in reality it's about 4 people. Peter, Sarah, Rachel and Aldous. The basic premise is this: Sarah dumps Peter. Peter has multiple one-night stands to try and get over Sarah. Peter goes to Hawaii to try and forget about Sarah. Sarah and new beau Aldous are vacationing in Hawaii at same time/hotel as Peter. Peter continues to run into Sarah and/or Aldous, as well as develop a relationship with Rachel, who works at the hotel. Add in a few nude scenes, some sex, some loosely amusing locals, two clueless newlyweds, Jonah Hill as an Aldous stalker, and some raunch, and you've got yourself a feature film.
I found the characters of Peter and Rachel to be pretty one-dimensional. Peter could have been good, but there are too many details left out. If Jason Segal, who both wrote the script and portrayed the character of Peter, had allowed the character to grow a bit more, I think I would have liked the character. Rachel's character added nothing. I really like Mila Kunis, I think she has talent. But all one needed to play Rachel was a hot body and a pretty face. Mila deserves more than that.
The character of Aldous Snow was quite possibly the most redeeming part of the movie. Russell Brand was absolutely hilarious as a Brit rock front man. I will forever be singing "Inside of You." Effing hilarious!
The movie sets out to make us as an audience dislike Sarah Marshall. She arrives home early, dumps her boyfriend of 5 years, and leaves. The next time we see her, she's already vacationing with another man. Slowly, details leak out to tell us that she'd been cheating on Peter for quite awhile. But the scene where she finally confronts Peter completely redeems her, in my opinion. She goes from being a hotshot actress on a hit show, one who just up and leaves one man for another with an almost callous attitude, to a woman who has helplessly watched her lover sink lower and lower into a depressional pit, unable to find a way to help him out of it. Does it make her actions right? I don't believe so. And yet, I had to cheer for her. Plus, I am a big - no, make that HUGE - fan of Kristen Bell. She's incredible. But the dress she wears to the luau is horrible.
I won't completely spoil the movie for you. Go, watch it. The ending is actual pretty good. It's just not really my kind of movie.
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