Reviews by Matt

This past semester movies have sucked. There was not one movie that I could recommend very highly. There were only a handful of movies I would actually consider seeing again. There was nothing I was excited to see, most I saw just because I needed content for the section.

Thankfully, this changed this past weekend. “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” was just the movie to break the dull and humdrum movies I have had to seen over the past few months.

Peter (Jason Segel) has a good life. He has a beautiful girlfriend Sarah (Kristen Bell,) an actress on the hit show “Crime Scene.” He does the musical score for the show and in his free time is working on his rock opera about Dracula.

One day Sarah comes over and says that they need some time apart, leaving Peter alone and hurt. He has a hard time getting over the break-up and decides he has to leave Los Angles if he is going to get over her. He goes to Hawaii, where it just so happens Sarah is vacationing with her new boyfriend, Aldus Snow (Russell Brand,) the lead singer of Infant Sorrow.

With the help of hotel concierge Rachel (Mila Kunis) and some of the other island residents, Peter learns that there is more to life than Sarah Marshall.

There are so many things I could talk about with this movie, beginning with the full frontal male nudity, but there is more to this movie than Segal’s “family jewels”

She may not know it yet, but I am Kristen Bell’s true love. So she can stop looking and give me a call. I first noticed Bell in the critically loved, but ratings bomb, “Veronica Mars.” Since then it has been rewarding to watch her get the recognition she deserves. She is gorgeous, funny, witty, smart and a great actress. As Veronica Mars, or her new role as Elle on “Heroes” she has been able to show her dramatic, witty and comedic side and while we get all that in “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” she gets to play vulnerable and has to be the straight-man for the more funnier co-stars.

She still cares for Peter and is having as hard a time as he is with the break-up, but she is hiding it better. When Peter gets involved with Rachel, Sarah is noticeably jealous and even confronts Rachel and tells her what a great guy Peter is. It is this side of her that makes her the sympathetic villain. We have to hate her, but at the same time we feel sorry for her.

With all the previous successes some of the cast has had, there is one man who steals the show. Russell Brand is the true star of this movie. Aldus is just so nonchalant about everything. As an audience, we are introduced to Aldus when he asks Rachel is she has seen his other sandal. He has to tell her it is just like the one he is holding, but it is the opposite. The guy is a stupid but also cool about it. He does not worry about the deeper issues of the break-up and tries to befriend Peter. Even Peter is won over by the guy. He can actually have a cordial conversation with him despite the fact that he is the new man in Sarah’s life.

I had huge expectations for this and was not let down. It was the funniest movie I have seen in a long time and was worth wading through the mediocrity that was this past movie semester to get to. I normally leave it up to you to decide whether you go see the movie, but this time I have to say go see this movie and thank me later when you stop laughing.

9 out of 10
Rated R for sexual content, language and some graphic nudity
1 hr 52 mins