Forgetting Sarah Marshall [MA]

Struggling composer Peter Bretter has one thing right: his five-year relationship with his celebrity girlfriend Sarah Marshall. But poor Peter’s world is turned upside down and inside out when Sarah dumps him. After a bout of unsuccessful womanising and breakdowns, Peter decides to take a breather and go to Hawaii to get his head straight. But in a bizarre twist of fate, he finds himself staying in the same hotel as Sarah and her new boyfriend; the overly cool and sexually threatening rock star Aldous Snow. 

Usually, I am not one to go for these sorts of comedies. I mean, I thought nothing of The 40 Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up so to watch another comedy from the guys that brought us those flicks, wasn’t exactly my highest priority. Having said that, Forgetting Sarah Marshall wasn’t actually that bad. 

Struggling composer Peter Brett has one thing right: his five-year relationship with his celebrity girlfriend Sarah Marshall. But poor Peter’s world is turned upside and down and inside out when Sarah dumps him. After a bout of unsuccessful womanising and emotional breakdowns, Peter decides to take a breather and go for a short holiday to Hawaii just to clear his head. But in a bizarre twist of fate, upon arriving on the island, Peter discovers that he is staying at the same hotel as Sarah and her new boyfriend; the overly cool and sexually intimidating rock star, Aldous Snow. 

I think what makes these breakup comedies so appealing to audiences is the fact that they are possibly the greatest example of schadenfreude on the planet. When you really think about it, people hate, really hate, to feel awkward: having the power to steer a conversation or control certain events up to a point and then have winds change suddenly halfway through and not knowing which new direction to head in. Forgetting Sarah Marshall was a classic example of this as the protagonist battles with a slew of awkward moments; the most dominant being how should he act when he sees either Sarah or her new man. And all the while we’re watching him struggle and are so glad it’s not us. 

The film’s central comedy is fed by that whole making-things-worse or digging-a-rut type thing, but the movie does have a nicer romantic story running alongside it as Peter and Rachel at the front desk spark up a relationship. 

One thing that I realised in this movie was that Get Him to the Greek is actually something of a follow-on for Russell Brand’s character, Aldous Snow, which is why there is a subtle reference to Forgetting Sarah Marshall in Get Him to the Greek. It’s a small world after all. 

Starring Jason Segal, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Russell Brand, Jonah Hill, Bill Hader, Jason Bateman, Paul Rudd, and Jack McBrayer, Forgetting Sarah Marshall was actually rather an entertaining comedy about getting dumped and taking it like a man. Filled with awkwardness, comedy, romance, sex, colourful characters, and more awkwardness, it’s worth watching and harbours a few surprising moments of comic originality.