Forgetting Sarah Marshall
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Forgetting Sarah Marshall | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster |
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| Directed by | Nicholas Stoller |
| Produced by | Judd Apatow Shauna Robertson Rodney Rothman |
| Written by | Jason Segel |
| Starring | Jason Segel Mila Kunis Kristen Bell Russell Brand Bill Hader Paul Rudd Liz Cackowski Jonah Hill |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) |  April 17, 2008 April 18, 2008 April 23, 2008 June 12, 2008 |
| Running time | 110 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $30 million |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Forgetting Sarah Marshall is an American 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, Russell Brand and Mila Kunis. It was released April 18, 2008 in the United States and Canada, and on April 23, 2008 in the United Kingdom.
Much of the film was filmed and takes place at the Turtle Bay Resort, located on the North Shore of the Island of Oahu in Hawaii.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Composer Peter Bretter (Jason Segel) has spent five years adoring his girlfriend, television star Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell). He has had success for composing the theme song and score of her highly-rated CSI-type crime drama show. While writing a puppet musical about Dracula, he's the guy left holding her purse in paparazzi photos and accidentally omitted from acceptance award speeches. Things take a twist when she breaks up with him, and Peter suddenly finds himself alone. Trying to get over her, he has sex with various women, but besides being terrified of getting an STD, all this does is increase his stress and heartache. After an on-the-job nervous breakdown, he sees that not having Sarah may just ruin his life.
At the suggestion of his step-brother Bryan (Bill Hader), Peter takes an impulsive trip to Hawaii to clear his head, and is given a free room by the sympathetic receptionist, on the grounds that he cleans up after himself. At Turtle Bay Resort, he is confronted by his worst nightmare: Sarah and her narcissistic new English-rocker boyfriend, Aldous Snow (Russell Brand), are staying at his hotel. In a twist of irony, Snow is sympathetic and generally kind to Peter, while Sarah initially and wrongly suspects he's stalking her. As he torments himself with the reality of Sarah's new life, he finds relief when talking with Rachel (Mila Kunis), a beautiful resort employee whose laid-back approach tempts him to rejoin the world. Although they bond and get along well, she is also reluctant to move on, because she too has been recovering from a recent heartbreak. Peter becomes friends with many of the hotel staffers and, along with Snow, also offers advice to a devout newlywed (Jack McBrayer) who is terrified of his new wife's (Maria Thayer) sexual appetite. Things take a turn for the worse when Peter is asked to vacate his room and given a room next door to Sarah and Aldous.
Throughout the film, Peter has flashbacks which reveal the negative aspects of Sarah and Peter's relationship, which he mostly ignored or was completely oblivious to, while Sarah remembers many of the good things she hadn't appreciated before. It is made known that she cheated on him with Aldous for about a year without him knowing, but after they break up, she now realizes that she wants him back, even more so when her relationship with Aldous fizzles and he leaves her, giving Peter a warmer farewell than Sarah. Her desperation increases when her show is cancelled and she fears her name being forgotten, while wishing to keep the ounce of dignity many actresses like her don't have. In the end, when Peter comes to comfort her for her loss, she begs him to take her back. Though he is initially reluctant, they have a brief physical encounter that Peter cuts short, realising he cannot get an erection because he is not attracted to her anymore and runs off, calling her the Devil as he leaves. Peter then decides to stay true to Rachel and divulges what happened between him and Sarah moments before, Rachel becomes furious and tells him to never speak to her again. Before he leaves the hotel, Peter wordlessly hands Rachel a topless photo of herself; it had been put in a local bar's wall collage by her nasty ex-boyfriend and Peter endured a beating from the bar's tough-guy owner to get the photo back to Rachel. When Peter returns home he finally finishes writing his Vampire Rock Opera. On its opening night, Rachel shows up, having been convinced by all the staff members Peter befriended at the hotel, and in the end both reconcile their differences and move on to further their relationship.
[edit] Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Jason Segel | Peter Bretter |
| Kristen Bell | Sarah Marshall |
| Mila Kunis | Rachel Jansen |
| Russell Brand | Aldous Snow |
| Bill Hader | Bryan Bretter |
| Liz Cackowski | Liz Bretter |
| Maria Thayer | Wyoma |
| Jack McBrayer | Darald |
| Teila Tuli (billed as Taylor Wily) |
Kemo |
| Davon McDonald | Dwayne the Bartender |
| Steve Landesberg | Dr. Rosenbaum |
| Jonah Hill | Matthew |
| Paul Rudd | Chuck "Kunu" |
| Kala Alexander | Greg |
| Kalani Robb | Helpful Hawaiian Waiter |
| Branscombe Richmond | Keoki |
| Billy Bush | himself |
| William Baldwin | Det. Hunter Rush |
| Jason Bateman | Animal Instincts Detective |
| Paul Goldberg | Drummer/Bandleader (Hawaiian Bar) |
[edit] Soundtrack
| Forgetting Sarah Marshall: Original Soundtrack | ||
|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack by various artist | ||
| Released | April 15, 2008 | |
The soundtrack of Forgetting Sarah Marshall was released on April 15, 2008
- "Love You Madly" by Cake
- "We've Got To Do Something" Infant Sorrow
- "You Can't Break A Heart And Have It" by Frank Black
- "Get Me Away From Here" by Belle & Sebastian
- "More Than Words" by Lazy Joes Band
- "Dracula's Lament" by Jason Segel
- "Inside Of You" by Infant Sorrow
- "Fucking Boyfriend" by The Bird & The Bee
- "Intensified" by Desmond Dekker
- "Nothing Compares 2 U" by The Coconutz
- "Baby" by Os Mutantes
- "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" by The Coconutz
- "A Taste For Love" by The Coconutz
- "Secret Sun" by Jesse Harris
- "Everybody Hurts" by The Coconutz
- "Animal instincts" by The Transcenders
[edit] Critical reception
Forgetting Sarah Marshall has received generally positive reviews from numerous critics. As of April 23, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 85% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 132 reviews — with the consensus being that the film "finds just the right mix of romantic and raunchy comedy."[1] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 67 out of 100, based on 37 reviews.[2]
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."[3] 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. [4]
Other positive reviews come from Entertainment Weekly who gave the film a B+ and applauded "Jason Segel's riff on varieties of male bewilderment,"[5] 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."[6]
[edit] Box office performance
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.[7] It opened behind other Apatow vehicles such as Superbad, Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and Talladega Nights[8], but ahead of his recent vehicles Walk Hard[8] and Drillbit Taylor.[9]
As of June 9, 2008, Forgetting Sarah Marshall has grossed an estimated total of $85.9 million worldwide — $61.5 million in the United States and Canada and $24.4 million in other territories.[10]
[edit] References
- ^ Forgetting Sarah Marshall Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2008-04-23.
- ^ Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2008-04-23.
- ^ Forgetting Sarah Marshall | Metromix Chicago
- ^ Ebert & Roeper review of Forgetting Sarah Marshall
- ^ EW review: Remember 'Sarah Marshall' - CNN.com
- ^ Mick LaSalle (April 18, 2008). Movie review: He can't forget 'Sarah Marshall'. San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^ Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) - Weekend Box Office Results. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2008-04-23.
- ^ a b Judd Apatow Movie Box Office Results. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2008-04-23.
- ^ Drillbit Taylor (2008) - Weekend Box Office Results. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2008-04-23.
- ^ Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008). Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2008-05-07.
[edit] External links
- Official site
- Forgetting Sarah Marshall at the Internet Movie Database
- Forgetting Sarah Marshall at Rotten Tomatoes
- Forgetting Sarah Marshall at Metacritic
- Forgetting Sarah Marshall at Box Office Mojo
- Forgetting Sarah Marshall at Allmovie
- Forgetting Sarah Marshall at About.com
- Trailer at Yahoo!
- Restricted trailer
- Set Visit and Text/Audio Interview with the Stars
- Fictional websites created for the film
- Crime Scene: Scene of the Crime show-within-a-film page on NBC website
- Sarah Marshall Fan
- ihatesarahmarshall
- Infant Sorrow band MySpace
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