Sunday, May 31, 2009

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)

We finally got around to watching a film that had been sitting on the DVR for months - Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It was one of those films my wife and I saw the trailer for and said "oh, that looks funny". Now, I am a huge fan of Jason Segal. Have been since Freaks and Geeks and love him each week on How I Met Your Mother. And since he wrote this film, we figured it would be awesome.

It was very enjoyable, but definitely something to watch when the kids aren't around (which was this Friday night for us when our son was away at a scouting overnight). It's very R-rated and typical of the Apatow comedies of late (which seem to always have an "unrated" version on DVD - how much more "unrated" do we really need?).

We even get some funny stuff from Paul Rudd, who starred with Jason in this years I Love You, Man. I kept waiting for him to say "slappin' the bass". LOL.

Loved that Jason decided that he'd take the front of the full-frontal nudity in the film. None of the female leads bare all (okay, Mila Kunis from That 70's Show does have topless input but I wonder if was actually her or not). Kristen Bell finds herself in some very funny "moves" with hilarious Russell Brand but nothing in the nudity realm. The whole films draws from the same well as many of the recent trend of relationship comedies do - language, sex, etc. - but I don't think this one was as over-the-top as others.

Plus, how can you not love a musical about Dracula with puppets (done by Jim Henson's company no less)? That is just all kinds of awesome. The scenes done in Hawaii were also very pleasant - gave the film an interesting locale to play out most of the comedic situations and drama.

All in all, I enjoyed it a lot. Worth the wait to finally see it.

1 comment:

Michael O'Connell said...

One of my favorite parts of the film? The Hawaiianized versions of popular songs played by the band in the bar (and other places in the film). I'm sure everyone else in the theater wondered what I was laughing about, as I seemed to be the only one in there who thought an island version of Extreme's "More Than Words" was one of the funniest things ever. Other versions in the film were "Nothing Compares 2 U", "These Boots Were Made for Walking" and R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts".

I highly advise getting this soundtrack! I grabbed it off iTunes right when I got home from seeing it (the first time...). It not only has those tracks, but also both Infant Sorrow tracks, two Dracula Musical tracks, and some other great music. Oh, and also...the theme from "Animal Instincts". :)

I really, really loved this movie. A lot. Jason was brilliant. I fell in love with Milla. I was ALREADY in love with Kristin. And I became a lifelong fan of Russell, whom I'd never seen before this movie. I think what I loved most about it was that they made a break-up film where there was no real bad guy. There was no evil ex, no evil new guy...everybody was just shown as people. That impressed me, and it was quite refreshing.

Cannot wait until "Funny People" comes out this summer. Finally, a new Apatow-directed film!