Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)
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A heartbroken music composer's attempt to move on from a painful breakup takes an unexpected turn when he encounters his ex and her new boyfriend while vacationing in Hawaii.
The story
Composer Peter Bretter is devastated after being dumped by his girlfriend of five years, television actress Sarah Marshall. To cope with the heartbreak, he travels to Oahu, Hawaii, a location she often spoke about. However, his quest for peace is disrupted when he discovers that Sarah and her new boyfriend, British rock star Aldous Snow, are staying at the same resort. A sympathetic hotel concierge, Rachel Jansen, offers him a place to stay. As Peter navigates the awkward reality of being in the same vicinity as his ex, he begins to develop feelings for Rachel, while the complexities of his past and present relationships begin to collide in the tropical setting.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After being dumped by Sarah Marshall, Peter Bretter travels to Hawaii to find solace. He discovers Sarah is staying at the same resort with her new boyfriend, Aldous Snow. While Peter begins a romance with a concierge named Rachel, the relationship between Sarah and Aldous begins to crumble due to professional and personal pressures. A series of awkward encounters leads to a drunken dinner where both couples realize the truth of their situations. Following a series of escalating tensions and a physical confrontation between Sarah and Aldous, they break up. Peter and Sarah briefly attempt to reconcile, but Peter chooses to stay with Rachel. After a period of reflection, Peter returns to Los Angeles to work on his passion project, a Dracula puppet rock opera. He eventually invites Rachel to the premiere, where they reconcile and decide to stay together.
- First release year
- 2008
- Runtime (minutes)
- 111
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Nicholas Stoller
- Writers
- Jason Segel · writer
- Cast and characters
- Jason Segel · Peter Bretter; Kristen Bell · Sarah Marshall; Mila Kunis · Rachel Jansen; Russell Brand · Aldous Snow
- Genres
- romantic comedy; sex comedy-drama
- Themes
- moving on; rebound relationships; artistic passion
- Tone and mood
- romantic; raunchy; comedic
- Setting
- Oahu, Hawaii and Los Angeles, California.
- Premise and plot tags
- romance; comedy; vacation; breakup
- Content notes
- nudity
- Reception
- The film received critical acclaim and was a box-office hit, receiving generally favorable reviews for its mix of romantic and raunchy comedy.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 84% · scale: percentage · review count: 184; Metacritic · score: 67 · scale: 100 · review count: 37; CinemaScore · score: B · scale: A+ to F
- Production trivia
- The puppets in the film were created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.; The film was promoted with a mock website for a Sarah Marshall fan page.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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