by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
C+ Rated R
*this article is web-exclusive.
Judd Apatow and Jason Segal shot with many naughty surprises. Segal also stars as Peter Bretter who is a TV music score writer recently dumped by his longtime girlfriend, Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell). Peter does not take the rejection well, and falls into a self-loathing depression. Meanwhile, Sarah is dating an Australian rock star and loving it.
Thus, Segal and Apatow’s setup provides infinite possibilities for comedy situations as Jason Segal portrays Peter with droll comedic affectations. It seems Peter is always getting bad news while he is naked, thus giving the viewers flashes of male frontal nudity as a comedic ploy. Finally, Peter’s brother Brian Bretter (Bill Hader) suggests that Peter go on a vacation to some exotic location.
After too many nights lying awake pining for Sarah, Peter agrees to go to Hawaii. While checking into the hotel he spots (who else but) Sarah, who, coincidently, is on holiday at the same resort with her rock star boyfriend.
Of course, she thinks Peter is stalking her. But, he convinces her that he’s just there to relax and have a good time. Other odd coincidences pile up, like his room is next door to Sarah’s (he can hear them having wild sex) and when he goes to dinner, she and her toy-boy are at the next table. Ah yes, Peter has landed in break-up hell.
For Peter this situation is like shock therapy and he becomes interested in a pretty young woman, Rachel Jensen (Mila King) who works at the front desk. At first, she is his sympathy date, but as time goes on, she starts to have feelings for him. This side romance temporarily takes the pressure off Peter, but he is warned by the other hotel staff that she is just playing role as part of her job.
Segal and Apalow’s script is cleverly original in that they avoid many of the romantic comedy cliches. There’s an off-kilter feel to the dialogue as Jason Segal plays Peter with awkward dynamics, making the character interesting and unpredictable. Peter tells Rachel that he is working on a rock opera about Dracula, to be performed by puppets. She can’t imagine such an odd combination but she likes his weird imagination and his songs.
During a surfing outing with Sarah’s boyfriend, Peter learns that she was cheating on him with the rocker for a year before they broke up. This throws Peter into another tail-spin. However, considering the painful proximity to Sarah at the hotel, Peter is making the best of his holiday with Rachel. As this plays out with funny consequences, Sarah learns that her rocker squeeze is taking off on tour for most of the next year, and he doesn’t see anything wrong with screwing groupies while away from her. Whoa! Welcome to the freewheeling gypsy lifestyle of a rock’n’roll idol.
As the two romantic scenarios reach critical mass, Peter is faced with an interesting choice and a chance to produce his rock opera puppet show back in NYC. Jason Segal brings a fresh new face to this style of comedy. He’s not built in the mold of the usual male lead in a romantic comedy. When he finally picks himself up out of his depression, he is actually an appealing romantic lead. His ex-girlfriend’s affair with the rock star is such a Hollywood cliche. But inevitably, every budding starlet goes through her rock star phase, and then realizes that these guys are the ultimate narcissists, and are not into monogamous relationships.
Overall, this comedy is different, funny, and well worth seeing. With all that has gone before, making an original movie is difficult. Segal and Apatow pulled off a cinematic coup d’etat of originality.
Article Published in the April 2008 Issue of EU Jacksonville
|
