Previews, as we know, often lie. They dress themselves in control-top pantyhose — short clips, sexy music and the only four minutes of the movie that were funny — and hide their flabby figures long enough to lure us into the bedroom.
Previews also know that once we’re sold, we’ll seldom summon sufficient motivation to demand our money back or even storm out of the bedroom. In rare cases, there is a turnaround: we glimpse a preview’s unseemly back bacon and lose interest before committing to anything we’d regret. In even rarer cases, we find ourselves in that bedroom (or theatre), but it turns out that the preview was just dressed poorly, and we’re eager to tell our buddies all about our last two hours of bliss.
Still with me?
With “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” I saw preview-back-bacon. At first glance, it looked like evidence that the Apatow vein of comedy gold was running out, and from now on we’d be getting cheap fool’s gold. Forget reservations — “Sarah Marshall” is polished enough to attract excavators and audiences alike.
“Sarah Marshall” is book-ended with nudity. Full-frontal, male nudity. Which felt gimmicky at first — in a “Ha-ha, they’re breaking up, but he’s naked, so it’s funny” sort of way. But leads Jason Segel and Kristen Bell take the high road, allowing the comedy to emerge from the situation and dialog, while refusing to ham it up.
Segel’s Peter Bretter could easily be a grown-up Nick Andopolis (any “Freaks and Geeks” fans out there?). An amiable and mildly sarcastic good guy, he composes music for the cheesy crime show in which Sarah Marshall (Bell) stars. For six years he’s been content to hold Sarah’s purse and walk a couple of steps behind her on the red carpet, to eat enormous bowls of cereal and do nothing on the weekends. Unfortunately, Sarah isn’t content. She’s leaving him for Aldous Snow (Brand), a sexy rock star much beloved by the tabloids for his scandalous exploits.
At first, on the advice of his brother, Bretter tries the casual sex route to forgetfulness. When an on-the-job breakdown makes it clear that this method isn’t working, Bretter decides he needs a vacation. One plane ticket later, he’s in Hawaii — only to discover that his ex, too, has opted for a tropical escape.
Hawaii, it turns out, is the island of the stereotypes: the pothead surfer dude who advises, “When life gives you lemons, say ‘F*** the lemons,’ and bail,” the nervous newlywed who can’t believe the things that his wife wants him to do to her (I’m convinced they were from Utah), the welcoming, native Hawaiian who forces Bretter to kill a pig and the fan-boy waiter of questionable sexuality who wants nothing more than Aldous Snow’s approval. It wouldn’t be a kegger-comedy without the stereotypes, and they are mostly put to good use, minus a few throw-away lines.
However, it wouldn’t be an Apatow production without the all-too-human characters at the heart of the story. Mila Kunis captures hearts as Rachel, the easy-going, sympathetic reservations desk clerk who becomes Bretter’s new love interest. Sarah Marshall gets to be a real person, too, and not just the typical, shallow celebrity portrayed on film. Segel obviously knows breakups, delivering a spectrum of emotions that touches base with every heartache I’ve ever experienced.
“Forgetting Sarah Marshall” isn’t just about breakups. It’s the story of why we love another person, why sometimes it’s better when we let them go, and it’s about finding the next person to hang on to and fight for. As for me, I’m hanging on to Apatow and his trusty comedy crew. All I ask is that they keep making me laugh until I cry.
They haven’t let me down yet.
“Forgetting Sarah Marshall”Apatow ProductionsWritten by Jason SegelDirected by Nicholas StollerStarring Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Russell BrandRated R/112 minutes