The Film
Don't you hate when you look forward to a film with great anticipation after seeing a particularly funny trailer, only to find that the trailer included the only funny scenes in the film? I was a bit worried this would be the case with Forgetting Sarah Marshall after seeing its hilarious trailer, but happily my fears were unfounded. The films' 118 minutes (unrated version) or 111 minutes (rated R version) include plenty of laughs and touching moments, showing that Judd Apatow's still got it, when it comes to picking projects and shepherding them through production.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall stars Jason Segel (also the film's screenwriter) as Peter Bretter, a composer who is unceremoniously dumped by his TV star girlfriend Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell) in the first few minutes of the film, and who spends the rest of the film trying to get past her. In a convenient (for the film) twist of fate, the very remote resort in Hawaii where Peter escapes in an attempt to get on with his life is exactly where Peter's ex-girlfriend has gone on vacation with her new beau, the pompous yet endearing rock star Aldous Snow (played to perfection by Russell Brand).
As the story unfolds, Peter and Sarah each gain insight into what they've lost (or gained) by the break-up, clarifying their own direction for the future. As with most Apatow productions, the film (directed by newcomer Nicholas Stoller) is loaded with hilarious situations, sight gags and memorable one liners. The film's star, who penned the tale in Hawaii while getting over his own bad break-up, avails himself well in this leading role, creating a character that the audience cares about, flaws and all, with that heavy dose of self-humiliation that we come to expect from an Apatow production. Overall, it's an entertaining film, and well worth an evening's viewing. In fact, watching the film in both its rated and unrated versions, I think it may hold up well to repeated viewings.
The Picture
Presented in 1080p resolution in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio with an AVC MPEG4 encode, the movie just about fills the 16:9 screen shape with small black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. The picture is sharp and clean though colors seem just a bit undersaturated and interior scenes exhibit some signs of compression artifacts. Filmed on location in Hawaii, the lush green plants and blue-green water are gorgeous to look at, and the skin tones which are prevalent in the film (perhaps even more than necessary) are accurate.
The Sound
The main soundtrack is encoded in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (English) with Spanish and French audio tracks available in standard DTS 5.1 Surround. For the most part, the dialog is clear and audible, and the Hawaiian-heavy mix of background tunes are mixed in subtly yet effectively in various scenes. Toward the end of the film, however, during the Dracula puppet musical (yes, you heard that right), the center dialog track is so low in the mix as to make it difficult to make out the spoken and sung words. I had to crank the volume significantly at this point, just to catch what was being said. Overall, it's a good quality surround mix, but it is a bit uneven in parts.
The Extras
Those who have purchased or rented Apatow-produced films on Blu-ray Disc or DVD will be familiar with the extras on Sarah Marshall - the usual assortment of deleted scenes, gag reel, "Line-O-Rama" (alternate lines that illustrate Apatow's penchant for improvisation), commentary tracks and enlightening making-of featurettes. It's in these extras that we learn that the star/writer Jason Segel actually wrote a Dracula puppet musical and seriously considered developing it before incorporating this idea into the film. Universal also adds "U-Control" to the Blu-ray Disc which enables the film with additional supplemental content activated at various points of the film using BonusView technology. Also exploiting BonusView technology is a video commentary track from the film-makers and cast.
As with some previous Apatow productions (40-Year Old Virgin and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story), the Blu-ray Disc comes with two versions of the film - the R-rated theatrical version and an unrated version. The unrated version includes a few extra scenes such as an enjoyable little Yoga riff featuring SNL's Kristen Wiig as Prahna, the Yoga instructor, and some extended scenes to explain some of the jokes, or dig a little deeper for a laugh, but it doesn't substantially change the story or pacing of the film.
One feature I'd never seen before is a Karaoke option which allows you to sing along with the film's original songs including "We've Got to Do Something" and "Inside of You" with lyrics on screen and the lead vocal track muted. The disc also includes a BD-Live option but as of the time of this review, BD-Live content is not yet available from Universal to exploit this so the BD-Live link currently just gives a highlight on what will be coming in the future from Universal. This link will most likely change as BD-Live content becomes available. The Blu-ray Disc also features a digital copy for download to your PC, Mac or portable device. This is delivered on a separate DVD-ROM included in the Blu-ray package.
Final Thoughts
Maybe one day, Judd Apatow will produce a dud, but not today. Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a little less fast-paced than some of Apatow's earlier productions but is no less enjoyable. The video and audio tracks have some minor issues that prevent this from reaching absolute reference quality but the Blu-ray Disc still holds up well blown up on a large 1080p projection screen or on a 1080p flat panel HDTV. Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a fun film, made even more fun on Blu-ray Disc.
Where to Buy
Product Details
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