Rating: 5/10
Running Time: 111 minutes
US Certificate: R UK Certificate: 15
On DVD
Im a big fan of those Knocked Up guysthe Stoller/Apatow/Rogen/Segel whoever group that just keeps on making movies together. This time, Nicholas Stollers directing and Jason Segel wrote and stars in what I think is supposed to be a comedy along the same linesyou know, clever banter, normal guy characters who we can relate to, and some very R-rated humor that goes over just fine despite its raunchiness because, somehow, they make it work. Forgetting Sarah Marshall tries, but even with a talented cast, nothing ever seems to gel.
Peter Bretter (Segel) is dating Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), star of the popular TV crime drama Crime Scene: Scene of the Crime. Peter, the shows musical composer, believes all is well in their five-year relationship until one day Sarah comes home and tells him shes leaving him for another man. Devastated, Peter wallows around in self-pity for awhile before deciding to take a much-needed vacation to Hawaiionly to find Sarahs there too with her new rock star boyfriend (Russell Brand). He cant run, he cant hidebut he can strike up a friendship with Rachel (Mila Kunis), the hotel desk clerk, that might eventually lead to more if he can escape the memories of Sarah Marshall.
I think Im mad at this movie because it couldve been better. I know its potential, because Ive seen what the people involved have done in the past. The cast here is fantastic, especially Brand, who seems to make everything hes in go up a notch, and Kunis, whos definitely more than just Jackie from That 70s Show. So much more, in fact, that I was rooting for her NOT to get with Peter, because nice as he is, in story land, he wasnt ready for a girl that cool after just getting out of a five-year relationship. That inner conflict of mine sums up my issues with the filmit seems confused. It really wants to be a comedy, but it also sort of wants to be dramatic, and those two elements never flow into each other. Much of the movie feels like a series of skitsthe bits with the newlyweds at the hotel just dont have any purpose except to be funny, and theyre not, and most of the flashbacks are choppy and jarring. You see what they were doing, and it couldve worked, but the whole thing was poorly executed. Its not a bad film, but it takes a while to even care about anyone, and its asking a lot from your audience to devote that much time to something when even the payoff isnt much.
It's Got: , really funny mocking of CSI shows and bad horror movie ideas
It Needs: To have picked a personality and stuck with it and to lose the subplot
DVD Extras Audio commentary (filmmakers and actors); Theatrical and extended version; Digital copy; Video diaries; Cast interviews; Footage from the Dracula Puppet Musical; Line-O-Rama (alternate lines); Sex-O-Rama (more of the sex montage) DVD Extras Rating: 8/10
Summary
Funny in parts, uncomfortable in others, this tale of man-dumped-by-TV-star girlfriend-goes-to-Hawaii couldve been so much better.