Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Friday, 25 Apr 2008 17:09
Russell Brand stars as flamboyant rocker Aldous Snow in the comedy
Directed by Nicholas Stoller, out April 25th in cinemas, starring Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Russell Brand, Mila Kunis, running time 112mins.
In a nutshell…
Breaking up is hard to do
What's it all about?
Struggling composer Peter Bretter (Segel) and his TV star girlfriend Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell) are the perfect couple, a successful marriage of Hollywood glamour and normality. But when Sarah drops the bombshell that she's no longer happy in the relationship, Peter is left heartbroken and embarks on a soul-destroying run of drinking and one-night stands.
To get his life back on track, Peter decides to take a trip to the Hawaiian resort of Oahu, remembering Sarah's recommendations of the beach idyll, only to find his ex already ensconced there with her new man, flamboyant rockstar Aldous Snow (Brand).
Only a winning combination of crying, cocktails and canoodling with stunning hotel employee Rachel (Kunis) can bring Peter back from the dark side.
Who's in it?
Most famous to UK moviegoers as one of Seth Rogen's stoner buddies in last year's comedy sleeper hit Knocked Up, lead actor/writer Jason Segel currently stars in US sitcom How I Met Your Mother, having made his mark in criminally-cancelled series Freaks & Geeks and Undeclared. The Dracula rock opera penned by Segel's character Peter in the film promises great things for the actor/writer's upcoming Muppet movie.
Currently starring on NBC's Heroes, Kristen Bell played the lead on teenage detective saga Veronica Mars, while That 70s Show star Mila Kunis' voice will be familiar to Family Guy fans as that of Meg Griffin.
Paul Rudd and Jack McBrayer put in fine cameos as stoned surf instructor Kunu and petrified newlywed Darald, while Russell Brand is in fine form as... well, a version of himself in playing the charismatic Aldous, with typically-dry Superbad star Jonah Hill featured as Matthew, a waiter obsessed with the British musician.
As an example...
"I think that having sex with either of you would be a great treat for me." - Peter
"When life gives you lemons, just say 'F*** the lemons,' and bail." - Kunu
"I have a question for you real quick. What did you think of my demo? Did you get it?" - Matthew
"I was gonna listen to that, but then, um, I just carried on living my life." - Aldous
Likelihood of a trip to the Oscars?
Don't be ridiculous. This type of comedy never gets a look in at the Oscars and the MTV awards are a much safer bet.
What the others say
"The movie would have benefited from a lot more of Russell Brand, whose surreal egocentricity and vast reserves of disdain light up every scene he's in. The man wields every great line he's given like a whip." - Kurt Loder, MTV
"A tropical sex comedy that's a little unfocused, but Segel and co throw plenty of funniness at the wall - and most of it sticks." - Nick de Semlyen, Empire
So is it any good?
While it never scales the emotional comedy heights of its stable mates Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin, this is an impressively well-honed effort for a debut writer and, in clearly mining some personal experiences, it nails the pain and insanity of a breakup. Peter's disastrous womanising and seemingly-unstoppable crying - even at Project Runway - will ring true with any man who's been expectedly shown the door by his other half.
It's certainly not perfect, with the switches in tone between pain and laughter not entirely cohesive and the climax - featuring Peter's inspired Dracula rock opera - is somewhat rushed. Segel's less cuddly than Seth Rogen though his willingess to bare all - literally - is something the Knocked Up star thankfully abstains from. He also conveys far less comfort in his own skin which, though it can sometimes hamper our willingness to root for him, fits perfectly with the subject matter.
Nick Stoller's direction is perfectly adequate but the film feels too long, a problem experienced by each of the recent Apatow Productions films, whether Knocked Up, Superbad or Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.
But, like every Apatow production, it has a beating heart beneath its immature exterior and manages to inject a welcome dose of comedy into a topic that could easily have formed the basis for a draining drama.
30 Rock star Jack McBrayer deserves special mention, adding a wonderfully-surprising delivery to every line, while Brand must surely be set for Stateside stardom, with his lilting, lyrical brilliance - familiar to UK audiences - stealing the film.
7/10
Lewis Bazley
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