Forgetting Sarah Marshall DVD Review
They say that laughter soothes the savage beast, but in the case of a broken heart, is laughter a mender? Writer/actor Jason Segel (“How I Met Your Mother”, “Undeclared”, “Freaks and Geeks”) e4xplores this idea in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, both writing the hilarious script and taking the starring role as nice guy Peter Bretter, who is dumped by his beautiful actress girlfriend Sarah Marshall (Kristin Bell of Fifty Pills, “Veronica Mars”).
My Rating: 
Peter tries to rebound, as well as solicits relationship advice from his stepbrother, Brian (Bill Hader of “Saturday Night Live”, Superbad, Knocked Up). Eventually, Peter jets off to Hawaii to get away and drown his sorrows, but runs into Sarah, who is vacationing at the same hotel with her new beau, British rock star Aldous Snow (Russel Brand).
While Peter tries to put on a brave face, hotel employee Rachel Jansen (Mila Kunis of Moving McAllister, “That ‘70s Show”) steps in to help Peter get back on his feet. The film also stars, in minor roles, Paul Rudd (Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin) as a burned-out surfing instructor; Jack McBrayer (“30 Rock”, “Arrested Development”) as a naïve honeymooner; and Jonah Hill (Superbad, Knocked Up) as a celebrity stalker. Rounding out the cast are Liz Cackowski (“Saturday Night Live”), Maria Thayer (Hitch, “Strangers With Candy”), Billy Bush, William Baldwin, Jason Bateman (The Break-Up, “Arrested Development”), and Kristen Wiig (“Saturday Night Live”, Ghost Town, Knocked Up) (in the unrated version of the film).
First-time screen writer Segel and first-time director Nicholas Stoller (who also penned a few “Undeclared” episodes), create magic with Forgetting Sarah Marshall, using raunchy humor to gloss over a deeper film about love and loss.
The film is presented in anamorphic widescreen 1.85:1, with audio in Dolby Digital 5.1 in English, Spanish and French, as well as optional subtitles in Spanish, French and English for the hearing-impaired. Extras include commentary with director Nick Stoller, executive producer Rodney Rothman, producer Shauna Robertson, actor/writer Jason Segel, and actors Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Russell Brand and Jack McBrayer.
There are tons of other extras, including a handful of deleted/extended scenes; karaoke versions of the songs in the film; “Line-o-Rama” full of cut improvised lines; a short gag reel; “Dracula’s Lament”; “A Taste for Love” (about the all-puppet Dracula musical); “We’ve Got to Do Something” (a full version of the music video that Aldous Snow performs); 21 video diaries of behind-the-scenes footage, with Segel and Stoller as hosts; and many, many other bits that did not make the film. There are also auditions of Kunis, Bell, Brand, McBrayer and Thayer.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall is available both unrated and rated R “for sexual content, language and some graphic nudity.” Unrated run time is 118 minutes, and rated R is 112 minutes. This film is definitely in the vein of Knocked Up, Superbad, and The 40-Year-Old Virgin, but it goes a bit deeper to show vulnerability, and that’s what makes it not just a funny film, but also very entertaining one more than one level.
I give Forgetting Sarah Marshall 3.5 stars out of 5 stars.