A Hilarious Bawdy Comedy About Getting Over Being Dumped
From the Judd Apatow laugh factory, Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) is a funny, heartfelt comedy that I enjoyed even more than The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up. The star of the movie is Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother), and he was also the screenwriter, giving parts of the story, such as the naked breakup scene, an autobiographical quality.
Segel plays Peter Bretter, an ordinary-looking guy who's been in a five-year relationship with Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell from Veronica Mars). When she dumps him, he is heartbroken and tries to get over it by taking a vacation. He goes to a picturesque beach resort in Hawaii and is stunned when she turns up, looking fetching in a bikini. She is staying there with her new boyfriend, Aldous Snow (Russell Brand), front man for the British rock group Infant Sorrow. As Peter struggles to deal with this awkward situation, he becomes friendly with the hotel's cute receptionist (Mila Kunis).
Much of the dialogue and several key scenes in Forgetting Sarah Marshall revolve around sex, but always played for comedy. There's not much nudity, although Segel gives us the full monty. But his nudity isn't about sexuality — it's about vulnerability. The film makes it clear that what Peter craves is a stable, loving relationship.
The movie makes good use of humorous music. Aldous sings two funny numbers, the risqué love song "Inside of You" and the weird environmental anthem "We've Got to Do Something." And Peter writes a puppet musical containing the song "Dracula's Lament." The main creative force behind these pieces was Jason Segel.
DVD Extras
The Forgetting Sarah Marshall Collector's Edition is a three-disc DVD set that contains both the theatrical version of the feature film and an extended version that runs seven minutes longer. One of the discs is a digital copy of the theatrical version that you can transfer to an iPod, Mac or PC. Also the DVD set includes about two hours and 35 minutes of video supplementary materials.
You can get a good idea of the shoot by watching all 35 minutes of the video diaries, most of which appear to be shot at the Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu. If you want interesting interviews of key cast and crew, there's the 16 1/2 minutes from Cinemax. Here Segel discusses the trickiness of doing full frontal nudity in a way that would not violate MPAA standards for an R rating, yet would allow him to look manly.
If you enjoyed the parts of the film about the Dracula puppet musical, be sure to watch "A Taste for Love," which is about making it. In "Dracula's Lament (Mixed Version)," Segel sings the song as it might be done by Tom Waits.
For chuckles, watch "Line-O-Rama," which contains alternate lines of dialogue not used in the film's final cut. In a similar vein, there's "Sex-O-Rama," unused takes of Peter trying to forget Sarah by having sex with other women, one of whom is zonked out on Zoloft.
The DVD set provides an audio commentary track, but it's not very good. It's a free-for-all where the director, two producers, Jason Segel, Mila Kunis, Russell Brand and two supporting actors blurt out anything that pops into their heads. Kristen Bell speaks briefly via telephone with the commentators.
DVD Details
Listed below are all the DVD details for the Forgetting Sarah Marshall Collector's Edition.
Release Date: September 30, 2008
Number of Discs: 3
Theatrical Version:
Feature Film Runtime: 1 hour 51 minutes
MPAA Rating: R for Sexual Content, Language and Some Graphic Nudity
Extended Version:
Feature Film Runtime: 1 hour 58 minutes
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1), Color
English Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
French Dolby Digital 5.1
English Captions for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Spanish Subtitles
French Subtitles
Audio Commentary by Director, Writer/Star and 6 Others
Deleted/Extended Scenes (19 1/2 min.)
Video Diaries (21 segments, total runtime = 35 min.)
Auditions (5 actors, total runtime = 15 1/2 min.)
Cinemax Interview of Cast and Crew (16 1/2 min.)
Line-O-Rama (8 min.)
Sex-O-Rama (3 min.)
Drunk-O-Rama (2 1/2 min.)
Gag Reel (6 min.)
"A Taste for Love" (6 min.)
“Dracula's Lament" (Table Read) (3 min.)
“Dracula's Lament" (Mixed Version) (2 min.)
Puppet Break-Up (2 1/2 min.)
Russell Brand: Aldous Snow (6 min.)
"We've Got to Do Something" Music Video (4 min.)
The Letter "U" (4 min.)
Raw Footage — Video Chat (7 min.)
Raw Footage — Aldous and Peter in Hotel Lobby (9 min.)
Crime Scene: Alt. Scenes (2 min.)
Crime Scene: Hunter Rush Line-O-Rama (2 min.)
Sarah's New Show — Alts. (2 min.)
Digital Copy (Theatrical Version)
