Force Fed Films: Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)

Today I was forced to watch Forgetting Sarah Marshall. You know, I was pretty sure I knew what this movie was about when Puneet told me to see it, but as I started watching it, I realized I had been thinking of a completely different movie. I thought this movie was about a woman who had forgotten who she was, but after some searching it turns out I had been thinking of the film Nurse Betty! Boy was I in for a surprise then when instead of seeing Reneé Zellweger, I found the beautiful face of Kristin Bell! I immediately realized I had made a mistake, and buckled up for a totally different viewing experience. My findings after the jump!


Since I had no idea what this movie was about, there's a chance some of you out there don't either. The story is about Peter Bretter (Jason Segel), who has just been dumped by Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell). He tries his best to move on by having several one night stands, but he can't escape being reminded of her at every turn in his apartment. His brother in law Brian (Bill Hader), in a last ditch effort to snap Peter out of it, tells him to go on a vacation. The only place Peter can think of is a Hawaiian resort Sarah would always go on and on about. The 'S' hits the 'F' when he arrives only to find Sarah on holiday with the man she had been cheating on him with and left him for. The lady at the front desk, Rachel (Mila Kunis) takes pity on him, and gives him one of the most expensive suites in the hotel free of charge, so long as no one else books it. Now it's up to him to move on and forget about Sarah Marshall, even though he keeps running into her and her new man everywhere he goes. Let the awkward hilarity commence!

Rachel and Peter run into Aldous and Sarah at dinner. Awkward.

Right off the bat, I have to say this was one of the funniest movies I've seen in ages! Comedies are always the kind of film best watched with friends, but even though I was on my own, I was laughing aloud as if I wasn't. It's all thanks to the great acting and great characters. It also doesn't hurt that the movie was filled with great comedic actors. There were even a lot of small side rolls that had recognizable actors filling them who have since gained fame themselves.

Hey, Jonah Hill is in this movie! Why isn't Jason Segel in more?

Let me just say I thought the acting was great all around, but I just want to list off my thoughts on several of the actors. To start off, I was really surprised by Jason Segel. He made a great leading man and he was really funny, I'm really surprised he's not in more comedies.

Kristen Bell was super cute, and it was cool how one moment I'd hate her, but the next I'd like her. This also helped me connect with the character of Peter as he went back and forth about her.

My favorite performance of Mila Kunis ever!

As for Mila Kunis, I think this might be her best roll. She was totally sweet and nice and likable, unlike most of her other roles in which she always seems to play the tough bitchy girl. She's also probably the the perfect competition for Kristen Bell. She nearly stole the whole movie!

Some great side roles were played by Bill Hader, and the now very famous Jonah Hill. Both were funny reoccurring characters even though they were on screen for a short time. I also saw William Baldwin, Carla Gallo, Jack McBrayer, and the star of Bridesmaids Kristen Wiig!

Lastly we have Russell Brand who plays Aldous Snow, the famous singer that Sarah Marshall cheats with, and leaves Peter for. While I've mostly only ever heard how much people hate him and how annoying they find him, I didn't get that. I actually really liked his performance and I often found his clueless rockstar persona to be rather funny. The conversations he was in at dinner, or with Peter out on surf boards were really funny.

The romance parts worked alright, it was really more about the comedy for me. Rachel and Peter do make a good couple though. The other genre listed for this movie is "music". While I get it, because both Peter and Aldous are musicians by profession, the movie isn't really about music. At the most, it factors a little bit into the ending, but it wasn't that important.

So in summary I really liked this film. I might even say that I loved this film. All the situations they get into are funny or entertaining. All the characters are likable in their own way. Even if you don't like a character, it's probably because you're not supposed to like them, lending credit to the actors. It also doesn't hurt that it's filled with gorgeous shots of Hawaii, including sunset and ocean views. If you haven't seen Forgetting Sarah Marshall, this is one movie I would say you should go out of your way to see!