Written by: Jason Segel
Starring: Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Russell Brand
Rating: [2.5/5]
Suffering through a break-up, especially an unexpected one can bring so much pain, because it not only evaporates a future one sought with their partner but then leaves them thinking of what led the relationship to fall apart. It leaves time for plenty of reflection and regrouping to learn where to go next, which the protagonist in Forgetting Sarah Marshall seeks to accomplish on a trip to Oahu but even then he can find no peace.
Thinking he’s in a stable 5-year relationship, Peter (Jason Segel) feels devastated when his TV actress girlfriend, Sarah (Kristen Bell) abruptly ends their relationship. Stunned at this, he then learns she immediately got in a relationship with a British rock star, Aldous (Russell Brand). When he takes a vacation to Hawaii in order to take his mind away from his pain, he realizes Sarah and Aldous are staying in the exact same hotel as him.
Talk about a horrific coincidence, Peter’s predicament sounds like something out of a horror film for a dumpee where he cannot escape the very thing that causes his pain. Similar to a wound that he continually attempts to leave to heal but it never fully does because something else always reminds him of what he lost. Even at a place often described as paradise, the man cannot escape how his relationship with Sarah has ended and if anything it worsens the entire experience as a whole.
Therefore, we have a film filled to the brim with various relationship hijinks as this guy goes through the motions of getting over his ex in the strangest of circumstances and finds hope in something new with a budding relationship with Rachel (Mila Kunis), who works at the hotel. As Peter tries to enjoy this vacation, it presents a specific highlight on just how much these resorts cater to couples going on vacation rather than individuals. As someone who has never solo travelled and done so with others, I have never realized this reality. The scene where Peter decides to go to a dinner, where he gets chided by the host about not having a companion at this for this meal really just sums it up. Again, it serves as the many things that make getting over this break up all the more difficult.
For as much as this film knows how to deliver with laughs, especially those at the expense of Peter, it never really provides much substance through its story. Through Peter, we get the take of a new relationship with Rachel would serve as the best antidote for heartbreak, but with the continual run-ins with Sarah and the hijinks that occur because of it, the film never really provides anything more. All of it gets hampered ultimately by what occurs in the third act where Peter needs to make a decision of a path to choose, and none of it really hits home and feels like a waste in how these characters interact. This left a bad taste where the final scenes never felt justified.
As with any Judd Apatow production, he knows how to collect many comedic talents under one tent and besides the actors already mentioned that certainly did their part for this film, We also had the added talents of Bill Hader and Jonah Hill thrown into the mix that certainly add onto the overall experience here. Jason Segel as the lead does a decent job. As always he proves game for all the self-deprecating humor this role called for while also presenting as this everyman plenty of individuals could see themselves through. He proved perfect for what this character sought to represent and while others around him, namely Russell Brand, did not measure up to him, he still makes most of this film work.
Even with its kernels of quality, with a confounding third act, Forgetting Sarah Marshall makes me want to ultimately do what the first word of the title indicates about the film overall. While many may find more enjoyment in what it brought to the forefront, there were several elements of this story that never sold me on this experience overall. Plenty of good ideas sprinkled throughout it, but ultimately let down by some of the narrative decisions made by the lead actor himself as he stepped in to pen the film himself.
Films with Josh 
