‘Sarah’ backwards is ‘haraS.’ (For all the Sarahs out there — just pointing it out.)
Sadly, this Team Apatow production has yet to hit our shores (if ever) and the DVD will probably be out by next month — which would make this another case of the “DVD-beating-the-showing-in-the-Philippines.”
A comment by Isabelle on a recent episode of Weeds goes, “if only life were a Judd Apatow film.” To complete that, in an Apatow world, no matter how screwed up, stoned or geek’d you are, you will get the happy ending.
Written by Jason Segel, Forgetting Sarah Marshall’s Peter is an uncensored version of Marshall (yes, from that show) who is an average shut-in, with the special case of having a celebrity girlfriend about to break up with him.
Being a man-boy is a prevalent theme in several Apatow films (40-Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up) — we have Peter(Segel), a work-from-home composer who has Peter-Pan syndrome, and a female lead(Bell) who’s getting fed up of being Wendy.
In the first ten minutes, we get a background of their non-showbiz-boy/celeb-girl status, a full frontal of Segel, the break-up and the opening ceremonies for the “break-up olympics.”
Sarah Marshall, at first, is the “heartbreaker.” By the third of the film, she reveals that she too has been heartbroken, because of Pete’s non-ambitious lifestyle, and breaking up with him is the logical move for her to move on.
Rachel (Mila Kunis) represents the 50-50 chance of either ending up truly happy, or the equivalent of a plane crash in the middle of a trainwreck, booting up a relationship from a rebound. (And who hasn’t been there?)
Of course no Apatow production would be complete without a mix of colorful supporting characters — in this case, Bill Hader, Jonah Hill and Paul Rudd — an added bonus is Jack McBrayer, playing the role of an awkward newly-wed.
Hilarity ensues when Peter tries to get away by taking a trip to Hawaii, only to find Sarah in the very same resort, along with the new guy she’s seeing — Aldous Snow, played by Russel Brand (who is hilarious at playing the over-the-top artist). He also meets Rachel, who initially helps him out, only to be Pete’s teammate in the break-up Olympics.
By the middle of the movie, we get a preview of Peter’s unaccomplished goal, that is, to create a Dracula rock opera — which serves as an analog for his relationship with Sarah — loving, but destructive, to a point. Of which he shifts the tone to a more colorful comedy, after getting pushed by Rachel to just get it done.
Also, in the world of Apatow, aggressive girls are specifically made for socially-inept men. Which is best represented by the cliff-jumping scene — it is a visual metaphor for taking the plunge to either a very rocky death, or the eventual triumphant rise from the water with Rachel if he makes it.
I won’t call it “an honest look at relationships,” but to some degree it is truthful. Certain people just aren’t for certain people, so either end up wallowing in despair, or leave the other person in the relationshit better than when you found ‘em, and then move on.
All in all, it was funny, relatable and a couple of minutes too long. Something to look out for is the faux preview of Sarah Marshall’s new show, along with a Jason Bateman cameo. Watch it! If you can.
Related posts:
- movies i’ll be watching on saturday.
- District 9: Humans Are Bastards
- the dark knight.
- Watchmen Review
- the dopeness.
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