I chose this fractal--In the Garden 7--because the shape and colors reminds me of a Hawaiian shirt: I’ll be reviewing Forgetting Sarah Marshall which is set largely in Hawaii and Hawaiian Shirts are featured prominently (so at least it‘s tangentially related.)-
Forgetting Sarah Marshall is the rarest of rare birds--a “chick flick” for guys. It is a sweet-spirited romantic comedy but it has loads of “blue” language, sex and full-frontal nudity. (Sadly, virtually of all of that full-frontal nudity comes form male lead Jason Segel--but more about that later.) Producer Judd Apatow (of the recent hits The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up and Superbad) has assembled a lot of his usual cast and most of his usual tricks for this outing.
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Segel plays Peter Bretter, a loveable schlub who has a great life as a composer and lover for successful TV Actress Sarah Marshall (played by Kristin Bell who got her start on Veronica Mars). Sarah comes home and Peter greets her in the (fully frontal) nude--only to be dumped. (Segel, who wrote the movie as well as starred in it--claimed this actually happened to him.) Sarah has moved on to British rock star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand ) whom she’s been sleeping with for over a year. Peter tries a number of ways to deal with his heartbreak at the urging of his stepbrother Brian (Bill Hedar--another Apatow regular). In the end he finally ends up at a resort in Hawaii--only to encounter Sarah and her new boyfriend. Desk Clerk Rachel (played by Mila Kunis--one of the voices of Family Guy) who appreciates his quirky qualities. The road to true love is a rocky one but everything comes out in the end.
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This movie isn’t as laugh-out-loud funny as some of the other-aforementioned Apatow comedies (and there aren’t as many cringe worthy moments either). There are no revelations in the script but it is well acted and nicely shot. You gotta give Segel props for willingly showing off his none-too-toned body and “wee willy winky” (emphasis on the wee ) for public humiliation. That’s just brave. Everyone else does a fine job and I found it quite enjoyable. It is amusing (all the more because it is at least semi autobiographical on Segel’s part.) This is not one of the great comedies of the ages but it is enjoyable nevertheless.
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FINAL GRADE: B+
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