Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Release date: September 30th, 2008
MSRP: $34.98

Director: Nick Stoller
Stars: Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Russell Brand, Mila Kunis
Peter Bretter (Jason Segel) is a music composer that handles the music for the television series Crime Scene. He is also dating Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell), the lovely star of said show.
Sadly, that part does not last. The show opens with what has to be one of the most uncomfortable break-up scenes in the history of film. Peter gets dumped just after stepping out of the shower. We get to see Peter in all his glory. Actually, glory is probably the least applicable word here.
The breakup leaves Peter completely crushed and wallowing in pain and self-pity. While this is certainly understandable, I did find myself wanting to slap him upside the head.

Peter attempts to wash away the pain by hooking up with many one-night stands. Unfortunately, shallow wanton sex does not lessen his crying jags (including some during said hook-ups).

This is about the time that I started to become annoyed with our protagonist. The scenes are designed to play up the humorous aspects of being dumped, but it makes Peter look like a whiny slob. We get to watch him shoveling in enough sugar cereal to sustain major parts of Africa.
Thinking that perhaps a change of scenery will do some good and help him relax, he decides to take a vacation. Peter opts for Hawaii and a resort that his ex was fond of.
Of course Sarah is there. Not only is she there, but she is with Aldous Snow (Russell Brand), a rocker that Sarah dumped Peter for.

This leads to more sobbing. Some self-induced and some brought on by some painfully funny situations. Peter does attempt to stay busy and have fun, but often ends up feeling worse than when he started.
Fortunately for Peter, he catches the eye of Rachael, a very sweet and sexy hotel hostess (Mila Kunis). She helps him take his mind off of Sarah and thus start the healing process.
As the movie goes on, it does offer up more and more authentic emotion. As I said, I had started to actually dislike our hero, but he won me over as time went on.
The casting is pretty good, with the aforementioned folks doing a nice job. One notable exception is Jonah Hill. I know many find him funny, but I just don’t get the appeal. He does an excellent job playing annoying characters, but that is my problem with him: Every role he does makes me want to hit fast forward.
Overall, Forgetting Sarah Marshall provides some good comedy along with some heart. That is something that too many comedies are lacking today.
Extras:
There is a freakin’ truckload of extras here. I could spend the next page or so covering all of them, but am going to simply point out some that should be seen.
Starting things off is a fun and lively commentary track with director Nick Stoller, executive producer Rodney Rothman, producer Shauna Robertson, Jason Segel, Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Russell Brand and Jack McBrayer.
There are a couple of collections of deleted/extended scenes. Entertaining, but it is generally clear why they did not make the final cut.
Be sure to check out Line-o-Rama, a bunch of improvised bits that are actually pretty funny.
21 video diaries are also included here. These give us a look behind the scenes and come in around 35 minutes,
There are a few pieces that look at Peter’s rock opera Dracula’s Lament. There really should be seen. Among these bits are Segel performing as Tom Waits and the frontman for the B-52s. There is also a rather disturbing puppet version of Peter and Sarah’s break-up.
In the film, William Baldwin is seen, in television clips, as Sarah’s partner on her series Crime Scene. We are treated to some very fun cheeseball lines from Mr. Baldwim. Between this and Dirty Sexy Money, I am starting to think that Billy has some actual acting skills.
This set is a treasure trove for fans of the film. You have hours of fun ahead of you. I can’t imagine skimping out and buying the one disc offering
Order Forgeting Sarah Marshall from Amazon.
Jeremy Lynch
For more reviews from myself, and the rest of the Crimespree crew, check out the index of reviews.