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Daren in Brief - OVERLOOKED MOVIES II
by Daren Foster

Overlook Movies II

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Daren in Brief
Overlooked Movies II

by Daren Foster

I stumbled across Forgetting Sarah Marshall in a circuitous manner after watching a performance by British comedian Russell Brand who stars in the film. Neither a virulent foe nor overly agreeable friend to the movies that are being dumped out by the load full from the Judd Apatow juggernaut, FSM simply slipped past below my notice. I was pleasantly surprised by The 40-Year Old Virgin and overwhelmingly underwhelmed by Superbad. My viewership is on a lukewarm, project-by-project need to see basis and rests largely on it not having Seth Rogen attached. The man needs to take a little breather to rejuice his creative spark.

Overall Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a funny, engaging movie that travels the well-trod path of adult male immaturity and arrested development. (Mmmmm, Arrested Development.) Writer/star Jason Segel ably carries the load of the spurned lover man/child and is backed up very nicely by the likes of Brand and That 70s Show regular, Mila Kunis who brings a certain steeliness to the love interest role. Paul Rudd has a funny bit as the resident surf instructor/stoner. A good pothead but no Dante from Grandma’s Boy.

Still, like many of Apatow’s projects, FSM has an annoying, man-centric (as in, not quite misogynistic but a slight whiff of disdain toward female characters) tick that sticks in the craw. In order to make Segel’s Peter Bretter’s faults and failings less unappealing, the script turns his ex and the movie’s eponymous character into a insecure, pushy harpy thereby making their break-up more about her then him. While done not as egregiously as say, Knocked Up, it still felt like a cop out. And is it now Hollywood shorthand that true artists are only able to express themselves through using marionettes and puppets?

Ultimately, minor-ish quibbles. Forgetting Sarah Marshall is definitely worth a sit through on a rainy weekend day.