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Forgetting Sarah Marshall

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Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Theatrical release poster
Directed byNicholas Stoller
Written byJason Segel
Produced byJudd Apatow
Shauna Robertson
Rodney Rothman
StarringJason Segel
Kristen Bell
Mila Kunis
Russell Brand
CinematographyRuss T. Alsobrook
Edited byWilliam Kerr
Music byLyle Workman
Production
companies
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
April 18, 2008
Running time
Theatrical cut:
110 min.
Unrated cut:
117 min.
CountryTemplate:FilmUS
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30,000,000
Box office$105,173,115

Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a 2008 United States romantic comedy film from Universal Pictures directed by Nicholas Stoller and written by Jason Segel. The film was produced by Judd Apatow and stars Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis and Russell Brand. It was released theatrically on April 18, 2008 in the United States and Canada, and on April 23, 2008 in the United Kingdom. The home video release was on September 30, 2008 in the United States on DVD, 3-disc Unrated Collector's Edition DVD, Blu-ray Disc and as a digital download.

Much of the film was shot at the Turtle Bay Resort, located on the North Shore of the Island of Oahu in Hawaii.

Plot

Composer Peter Bretter (Jason Segel) is dumped by his girlfriend, television star Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), after a five-year relationship. Devastated, Peter starts having sex with random strangers, but he is still unable to overcome his grief. Upon advice from his stepbrother (Bill Hader), he decides to take a trip to Hawaii and stay at a resort Sarah once mentioned; when he goes there, he is confronted by Sarah and her new boyfriend, the narcissistic English rock star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand). Peter begins his vacation weeping in his suite, but later begins hanging out with Rachel (Mila Kunis), a hotel receptionist sympathetic to Peter's plight. After a few nights out, Peter begins to develop feelings for Rachel.

Peter also forms a tentative friendship with Aldous, though Peter becomes angry with him when Aldous tells him Sarah had in fact started sleeping with him a full year before Peter and Sarah had broken up. When Peter confronts Sarah about this, she tells him she did it because he had become lazy and she couldn't do anything to make it work, despite reading self-help books and seeking professional advice.

Sarah and Aldous' relationship deteriorates over the course of an awkward meal with Peter and Rachel. Peter and both women continue to drink to ease their discomfort, while Aldous goes on to talk about his belief in freely sleeping with any woman he meets as a way to get the most out of life. After dinner, Peter takes Rachel back to his hotel room to have sex. Sarah, who is in the room next to his, overhears them and starts to do the same with Aldous. Peter and Rachel hear them and join in the yelling, playing along like it's a game. When Aldous notices Sarah is clearly faking orgasms loudly 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 insult each other and their differences become very clear. In the other room, Peter tells Rachel that he's really enjoyed spending time with her, and she feels the same way.

Aldous gives Peter a warmer farewell than he did Sarah, after harshly comparing his vacation with her to "a little holiday with Hitler". Peter goes to Sarah's room to console her, but she admits she's still in love with him, and tries to rekindle their romance. After Sarah begins to perform oral sex on him, Peter finds himself unable to continue, because she'd broken his heart and he likes Rachel now. He angrily calls Sarah the devil before storming off.

Feeling he should be honest with Rachel, he tells her what happened. Rachel tells him to leave and never to speak to her again. Peter agrees, but then visits a bar they once frequented, to remove a topless photo of her which she hated. Peter endures a beating from the bar's owner, but retrieves the photo, and wordlessly returns to the hotel to hand it back to Rachel.

Peter flies back to the mainland where, after a phase of self-loathing, he starts working on a Dracula rock opera, titled "A Taste for Love" — and sends an invitation for the opening night to Rachel. Initially reluctant, she decides to attend the premiere. The opening night is a huge success, and Rachel congratulates Peter, also revealing that she is checking out some schools in the area to attend. They go their separate ways, until Rachel decides to go into Peter's dressing room to tell him she missed him. Peter is naked and embarrassed, as he was at the beginning of the movie, but happy as he tells her the same thing and they kiss.

During the credits, a preview is shown for Sarah Marshall's new show with Jason Bateman — a detective crime drama similar to her last one, called Animal Instincts, wherein she plays a detective who is also an animal psychic.

Cast

Filming

All filming locations were in the state of Hawaii and in Los Angeles. While filming the movie lead actor Jason Segel told a New York Times interviewer that the naked break up scenes were based on a real life experience he had. The movie was rated R by the MPAA for 'sexual content, language and some graphic nudity'.

Release and reception

The film was promoted with a "teaser" billboard campaign, featuring the text "I hate Sarah Marshall" and the URL for the film's web site. The campaign caused some unintentional grief to real-life Sarah Marshalls.

In its opening weekend, the film grossed $17.7 million in 2,798 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking #2 at the box office behind The Forbidden Kingdom, and averaging $6,335 per theater in the US and per theater in Canada.[2] It opened behind other Apatow productions such as Superbad, Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and Talladega Nights,[3] but ahead of his recent films Walk Hard[3] and Drillbit Taylor.[4]

As of February 2009, Forgetting Sarah Marshall has grossed an estimated total of $105.2 million worldwide; $63.2 million in North America and $42 million in other territories.[5]

Forgetting Sarah Marshall has received positive reviews from numerous critics. As of January 2009, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 84% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 165 reviews - with the consensus being that the film "finds just the right mix of romantic and raunchy comedy."[6] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 67 out of 100, based on 37 reviews.[7]

Matt Pais of the Chicago Tribune said it's "the kind of movie you could watch all day because, like a new flame, you can't get enough of its company and are just glad to see where it takes you."[8] Richard Roeper highly praised the film for its laugh-out-loud moments as well as its worthiness to be an instant classic and went as far as to say he would put it on his list of 50 favorite comedies of all time.[9]

Other positive reviews come from Entertainment Weekly who gave the film a B+ and applauded "Jason Segel's riff on varieties of male bewilderment,"[10] and Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle', who wrote "Segel's breakthrough movie, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, deserves to ride the wave of the latest, hottest micro-trend in pictures: the romantic comedy for guys."[11]

Home Media release

The DVD and Blu-ray disc was released on September 30, 2008 in a single-disc DVD edition, a three-disc collector's DVD edition, a two-disc Blu-ray edition, and the Ultimate Unrated Comedy Collection containing the collectors' editions of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and Knocked Up on either DVD or Blu-ray Disc. The title will also be released on various electronic download services. It was released on DVD in Australia (region 4) on August 20, in a single and 2-Disc Unforgettable Edition and was also recently released on Blu-Ray disc in Australia on November 5.

Soundtrack

Untitled

The soundtrack of Forgetting Sarah Marshall was released on April 15, 2008

  1. "Love You Madly" by Cake
  2. "We've Got to Do Something" by Infant Sorrow
  3. "You Can't Break A Heart and Have It" by­ Black Francis
  4. "Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying" by­ Belle & Sebastian
  5. "More Than Words" by Aloha Sex Juice
  6. "Dracula's Lament" by Jason Segel
  7. "Inside of You" by Infant Sorrow
  8. "Fucking Boyfriend" by The Bird and the Bee
  9. "Intensified" by Desmond Dekker
  10. "Nothing Compares 2 U" by­ The Coconutz
  11. "Baby" by Os Mutantes
  12. "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" by The Coconutz
  13. "A Taste for Love" by Forgetting Sarah Marshall Cast
  14. "The Secret Sun" by Jesse Harris
  15. "Everybody Hurts" by­ The Coconutz
  16. "Animal instincts" by The Transcenders featuring J7 D'Star

The film also featured "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" by The Smiths, though it isn't on the soundtrack. The song can be heard in the background during the scene early in the movie in which Peter's brother deletes all of Peter's photos. "Amber" by 311 can also be heard in the background during the bar after Peter and Rachel's first date - but also isn't on the soundtrack. Arenita playita from Los Amigos Invisibles is also played in one of the bar scenes.

Awards and nominations

Forgetting Sarah Marshall was nominated for five awards for the 2008 Teen Choice Awards, though it did not win any awards. The nominations were:

  • Movie, Breakout Female: Kristen Bell
  • Movie, Breakout Female: Mila Kunis
  • Movie, Breakout Male: Jason Segel
  • Movie, Romantic Comedy
  • Movie, Actress Comedy: Kristen Bell

On The Comedy Festival Presents: Funniest Movies of the Year 2008 on TBS, Forgetting Sarah Marshall was voted "The Funniest Film of 2008".

Spin-off

Main article: Get Him to the Greek

A spin-off is planned for 2010 reuniting director Stoller and producer Apatow with stars Brand and Hill. Brand reprises his role of Aldous Snow, while Hill plays an entirely new character.

References

  1. ^ Meeting Kunu - Forgetting Sarah Marshall
  2. ^ "Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) - Weekend Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  3. ^ a b "Judd Apatow Movie Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  4. ^ "Drillbit Taylor (2008) - Weekend Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  5. ^ "Forgetting Sarah Marshall". The Numbers. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
  6. ^ "Forgetting Sarah Marshall Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  7. ^ "Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  8. ^ Forgetting Sarah Marshall | Metromix Chicago
  9. ^ Ebert & Roeper review of Forgetting Sarah Marshall
  10. ^ EW review: Remember 'Sarah Marshall' - CNN.com
  11. ^ Mick LaSalle (April 18, 2008). "Movie review: He can't forget 'Sarah Marshall'". San Francisco Chronicle.
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