WHAT IT’S ABOUT: TV crime drama music composer Peter Bretter (Jason Segel) lives in the shadow of his highly-successful TV star girlfriend Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell). They’ve been together for five years and it’s a dream come true for him, though, as he suddenly finds out, not so much for her. One day, she suddenly ends it and naturally, it destroys him, leaving him in a pool of despair. To collect himself and try to move on, he packs up and heads to Hawaii for a bit of fun, getting a room at a resort near the beach, only to find out that Sarah is also there … with her new boyfriend, rock star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand). Thankfully, Peter befriends the adorable hotel concierge, Rachel (Mila Kunis). Can she help him to forget Sarah Marshall?
QUICKIE REVIEW: From director Nicholas Stoller and producer Judd Apatow, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, like The 40-Year-Old Virgin, finds that magical sweet spot between genuine human drama and very funny comedy, putting the focus on an everyman with a problem in love. While it’s obviously pretty predictable, the story nonetheless finds lots of momentum from its great cast and series of very believable situations.
THE NAKED BREAKUP MOMENT: Good ol’ Peter is living the good life, almost deliriously content with how things have turned how. He starts the film (naked) in front of a mirror complimenting himself: “Good for you” he says. All is swell in the world of Peter Bretter. One morning, he watches the news where he sees his famous girlfriend Sarah spotlighted for her success, his name mentioned in passing. Meanwhile, as he eats a ginormous bowl of sugary cereal, the phone rings and it’s Sarah, telling him that she’s coming home early, forcing him to clean the place up before her arrival. He does so just in time, coming out of the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist as she is already standing in the living room.
Thinking she’s in for some fun, he opens up the towel and does some gyrating, off camera his little man doing a dance meant to inspire some sexual bliss. It doesn’t.
She sighs and softly says, “As you know, I love you very much.” And it’s the way she says it that tells it all. Peter knows right away, it’s over. In shock, he drops the towel and raises his hands to his face, leaving the rest of him exposed … to us.
He turns away from her to try and understand what is happening and then hopes to talk her out of it while she asks him to put some clothes on. He refuses, knowing that if he does so, it absolutely over, instead, taking a seat on the sofa where they finally end it, even as he stands again – with all his glory in view – struggling to deal with the truth. She’s moved on.
WHY IT’S GREAT: For anyone who has gone through a breakup, it’s the worst if you’re on the receiving end, especially if you think all is right in the world. So it is for Peter, who has it all come crashing down around him. Segel, who has always had this counterintuitive big man/soft heart kind of appeal is perfectly cast in that role, and what’s best about the moment is the fact that he is naked (Segel wrote the script and based much of it on his real-life experiences). This lends Peter a whole other level of vulnerability that rings surprising honesty out of the moment. It’s rather affecting because we are dealing with the emotional impact of the sudden heartbreak and the shocking imagery of a wholly naked man, something that even in today’s standards is a rare thing in mainstream cinema.
I love how he stays naked, simply because he knows that any chance to keep her will be lost the second he makes that different. Entirely exposed, he has gone completely numb and as such, simply allows his whole body to be open to the pain. And here’s the real magic of the moment because it’s superficially played for laughs but there isn’t anyone laughing. That’s the power of good writing and direction, but more so the terrific presence of both Bell and Segel who sell this potentially awkward moment so well.