Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Along with about 30 bloggers, I had the chance, yesterday, to preview Forgetting Sarah Marshall at the private Soho Screening Room. That movie is definitly more than a RomCom. It’s very very funny. And there is a great cast of actors…

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a 2008 American romantic comedy film directed by Nicholas Stoller and starring Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis and Russell Brand. The film, which was also written by Segel and co-produced by Judd Apatow, was released by Universal Studios.

The story revolves around Peter Bretter, a music composer for a TV show by trade, who has recently broken up with his girlfriend of 5 years. The show he composes the soundtrack for stars his now ex-girlfriend. Devastated by this event, he chooses to go on a vacation in Hawaii to try and move forward with his life. Trouble ensues when he runs into his ex on the island as she is vacationing with her new boyfriend.

Filming began in April 2007 at the Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore of Oahu Island in Hawaii. The film was released for North American theaters on April 18, 2008 and in the UK a week later on April 25, 2008.

Plot

Composer Peter Bretter (Jason Segel) is in a five-year relationship with actress Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), who stars in a CSI-like television show. One day, as Peter stands stark naked in their apartment, Sarah announces that she is leaving him for someone else. Devastated, and unable to banish his grief through one-night stands, Peter takes a trip to Hawaii. However, the vacation is ruined when he learns that Sarah and her new boyfriend, (lead singer of the English rock band, Infant Sorrow), Aldous Snow (Russell Brand) are also guests of the resort. Taking pity on him, hotel concierge Rachel (Mila Kunis) offers him an expensive suite for a discounted rate.

Peter begins spending time with Rachel and starts to develop feelings for her. Meanwhile, the relationship between Sarah and Aldous begins to falter. Much of the discord is triggered by the news that Sarah’s TV show has been cancelled, and Aldous is about to embark on a World Tour with his group, Infant Sorrow. During a day of surf and sand Aldous and Peter run into each other and begin talking. Inadvertently, Aldous informs Peter that he and Sarah began having sex a full year before she broke up with Peter. When Peter confronts Sarah, she tells him she began feeling disconnected emotionally from him and she couldn't do anything to make their relationship work. Further exacerbating the situation is Sarah's obvious jealousy of the budding relationship between Peter and Rachel.

The situation comes to a head when Sarah, Aldous, Peter and Rachel share an awkward dinner together. Peter takes Rachel back to his hotel room and they begin to fool around. Sarah hears them through the wall and initiates sex with Aldous, moaning loudly for the benefit of the couple next door, and Rachel and Peter turn the situation into a game and become even louder. When Aldous realizes Sarah is clearly faking orgasms to try and get a rise out of Peter, he stops the sex and tells her the trip was a mistake as she's clearly not over Peter. They bicker furiously and cruelly, prompting Aldous to announce that the relationship is over. In the other room, Peter and Rachel discuss how much they have enjoyed each other’s company and how the feelings have grown strong between them in such a short period of time.

The next morning, Peter encounters Aldous, and learns that he and Sarah have broken up and that he is flying back to England. Peter goes to Sarah's room to console her where she admits she still loves him and tries to rekindle their romance. The two start to engage in sexual activity, but Peter abruptly cuts it off because of his feelings for Rachel, and his now ambivalent feelings towards Sarah.

Peter immediately goes to Rachel to confess what happened, but she is hurt and demands that he leave and never contact her again. Obviously upset over the fight, Peter goes to a bar they frequented together and steals a humiliating topless photo of Rachel, posted in the men's room, taken while she was too drunk to consent and which the bar owner refuses to remove (the topless photo used in the film was a fake, designed by American prop maker Christina Haberkern for the prophouse Independent Studio Services ). Peter endures a beating from the bar's owner, but returns to the hotel and gives her the photo before leaving again.

He then flies back to Los Angeles. After a period of sadness and self-loathing, he begins working on his Dracula puppet rock opera, A Taste for Love. He sends an invitation to Rachel for the opening night performance. Although extremely hesitant at first, Rachel eventually decides to attend. After the performance Rachel congratulates Peter and tells him she's looking into attending school in the area. She leaves so Peter can bask in the success of his show, but quickly returns to Peter's dressing room to tell him she misses him. Peter is in the midst of changing his clothes, and stands naked, while also in the process of trying to call Rachel on her cell phone. Surprised to see her, and naked and embarrassed (mirroring the beginning of the film) Peter tells her that he has missed her too. The film ends as they embrace and kiss.