.: Roberts' Reviews - Movie Reviews :.

Hot off the advertising campaign that was as smart as anything I have seen in recent years, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, the new film from the guys that brought us Knocked Up and Superbad, swings into theatres in hopes of recapping the magic that previous efforts such as Drillbit Taylor and The Dewey Cox Story let slip away.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall - produced by Apatow Productions - is one of those films that exploits a scenario that almost every man has been through at least once. The basis is simple. Your girlfriend breaks up with you unexpectedly and in your wallow you just happen to see her getting on with her dating life with another individual. The difference between most of our general schmuck's situations and that of Peter Bretter (Jason Segel) is that we don't normally end up in the same vacation destination as our ex-partner while we are still licking our wounds. Forgetting Sarah Marshall takes this uncomfortable occurrence and taps the humor hell out of the circumstance.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall begins with the break-up. Peter is coming out of the shower when his actress girlfriend Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell) gives him the "Peter, we have to talk" speech. What would normally be awkward enough is intensified with Peter's nudity that is shown in full view on countless occasions during the conversation (oh Lord, why did we have to sit in the front row!).

Peter is as grief stricken as a love lost teenager, and on the recommendation of his step-brother Brain (Bill Hader -Superbad), he gives up trying to recover by having multiple one-night stands and heads to Hawaii to escape the memories of Sarah that seem to lurk around every corner (and on top of every fridge).

What seemed like a good idea soon turns like a stomach full of Scotch, Spam and whipped cream. Peter is not even checked into his hotel when he spots Sarah who happens to be vacationing at the same hotel with her new hot boytoy Aldous Snow (Russell Brand). Deciding to stay in the hotel rather than find another and show any kind of awkwardness or weakness, Peter's vacation is to then consist of situation after situation of ex-girlfriend spottings, ex-girlfriend memories, and ex-girlfriend discomfort.

Along for the comedic value are a host of characters that each have their moment in the spotlight. Paul Rudd plays a surfing instructor, Jonah Hill (Superbad) is overused as a waiter who tries everything to catch the eye of his idol Aldous and Jack McBrayer is a newlywed that is having difficulty with his new wife's sexual desires.

Thank goodness for Rachel Jannen (Mila Kunis - That 70's Show). Rachel will be the female hostess that assist in Peter's healing process and eventually their romance leads to some touching moments.

But for all of Rachel's fresh air, the movie really shines when it focuses on the hurt and pain Peter is self inflicting upon himself. Jason Segel does a formidable job (like Seth Rogan did in Knocked Up) by being an average joe-schmo.
The screening to which I was invited seemed to agree. The number of men in the audience outnumbered the females and laughter was definitely XY Chromosome favored.

There are a few misses along Peter's journey with us. The who puppet show musical that plays out towards the end could have ended up on the cutting room floor for all I cared (and for all the non-laughs it got with the audience). And some of the other small sub-plots such as Rachel's ex-boyfriend and the ongoing sexual dilemmas of Darald was forced and it was as if some of there scenes were added into a completed film just to increase the running time. The ending too just didn't fit, but this is after all a rom-com so I didn't really care either.

Adding up the sums of its parts however Forgetting Sarah Marshall was a triple to Drillbit Taylors strikeout. It was fun - sometimes uproarious - and is a comedy that will have the men laughing harder than the women even if that means reliving some suppressed feelings of our past.