Movies

I really need to go on vacation. More than anything related to the actual film itself, that's the realization I carried home from the theatre — I really, really need to get away. Forgetting Sarah Marshall's proudest accomplishment, intentional or not, is the relative ease at which it recreates the atmosphere of "vacation," particularly, a nice, reclusive trip to the beach (in this case, Hawaii). The likable Peter Bretter (Jason Segel, who also wrote the film) heads to the Aloha state after being dumped, in the absolute nude, by Sarah Marshall, a career minded actress currently serving time as the hot lead on a hit CSI-style melodrama. Naturally, he happens to check into the same hotel as Sarah and her new toy Aldous Snow, played with a sly wit by Russell Brand.

Eventually, Peter meets the beautiful Rachel Jansen (Mila Kunis, showing a talent here never exposed during her run on That 70s Show), at which point love and comedy ensues. The film has a fair assortment of flaws — notably, sloppy editing and a dinner table scene involving the four leads that somehow manages to drag — but wins in the end with charm, predictable resolutions and the great feel of being on vacation without ever leaving town. Forgetting Sarah Marshall exposes a generous 80 percent of its fully functioning heart, when it could easily have afforded to shed a bit of the crudeness (keep the nudity) and embrace the other 20 percent, neatly hidden by clichés and obligatory nods to a demographic that shouldn't even matter to such a talented, if underachieving, group of people.

Either way, I'm booking a trip to Hawaii. Thanks for the inspiration, Jason.