A.S. Program Board gave a special advance screening Tuesday, April 15th of Universal Pictures’ new film, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which comes from the same producers who did Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Starring Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis and Russell Brand, it revels in the obscene humor that earned it an R rating. Before its official release on Friday, UCSB students were privileged to see a sneak preview.
The film’s promotional posters accurately mirror the protagonist’s journey to…well, forget Sarah Marshall. Segel, who also wrote the script, plays Peter Bretter, a composer for a popular CSI-like series that stars girlfriend Sarah Marshall (played by Bell, from Veronica Mars and the voice of Gossip Girl). Recently dumped by Sarah, Peter has a hard time getting over her, which manifests itself into comically long bouts of crying and one-night stands.
Surrounded by memories of their long-term relationship, Peter decides to take a vacation to Hawaii, that is, until he bumps into Sarah and her new messy, British rocker boyfriend Aldous Snow (Brand). Hell and hilarity quickly ensue as Peter tries to deal with his ex, replete with sporadic flashbacks of their former relationship. Peter’s life, however, starts to change when he falls for hotel clerk Rachel (played by That 70s Show’s Mila Kunis).
The film is funny from start to finish and had the audience in a perpetual fit of laughter. Actors from other Judd Apatow hits make cameo appearances, such as Paul Rudd who plays a delusional surfer who forgets everything, as well as Superbad’s Jonah Hill who plays a waiter obsessed with Aldous. Peter’s odd quirks, such as carrying Sarah’s purse on the red carpet to eating a bowl of Fruit Loops in Costco sweatpants, earns him the audience’s adoration. In my opinion, Segel and Kunis made a perfect on-screen couple. Referred to as the “ultimate romantic disaster movie,” it clearly lives up to its title. Brand’s character as British rockstar Snow proved to be my favorite, a true ladies’ man who’s always bumping and grinding (literally in some cases).
If you can handle the constant sex talk and raunchiness, as well as gratuitous amounts of nudity, then this is the flick for you. Maybe there should be more “romantic disasters” like this one.