Ten Years Later, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” is Still Awesome.

Just this last week, the movie “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” hit Netflix. The movie is now unbelievably ten years old. Upon watching the movie again, you can fairly ask yourself if it still holds up to the original praise.

Jason Segel stars in the film, and he doesn’t shy away from embracing the role. In fact, multiple times in the movie Segel does full-frontal nudity. This includes a rather awkward, but hilarious scene in which Segel’s nude character gets dumped by his girlfriend (Kristen Bell).

The basic plot is that Peter (Segel) gets dumped by his girlfriend (Bell), who has been cheating on him with rockstar Aldous Snow (Russell Brand). Peter then travels to Hawaii to get over his heartbreak, but unfortunately his former lover and her new boyfriend are there. In Hawaii, Peter meets a new girl Rachel (Mila Kunis) with whom he eventually falls in love.

“Forgetting Sarah Marshall” came out around the same time as number of other, popular Judd Apatow movies like “Pineapple Express” and “Knocked Up”. Jason Segel was a main character in Apatow’s earlier sitcom “Freaks and Geeks”. Other popular actors to come out of this Apatow sitcom include Seth Rogen and James Franco.

The movie is littered with little pieces that highlight the talent of the creative team. For example, Segel’s character creates and produces a Dracula-themed puppet show at the end of the film. More so, Russell Brand’s character has numerous musical numbers throughout the movie. One of these includes a hilarious song titled “Inside of You”.

All of these little pieces are littered around a relatable storyline. Essentially, a good dude gets dumped by his attractive girlfriend and is heartbroken. He then meets a new girl who helps him get over it.

The character Peter’s vulnerability and depression actually provide a realistic and emotional insight into heartbreak. This insight is moving, but does not become too overwhelming because of comic relief. The film does a good job of this balance between heartache and laughter.

Conclusively, the movie is every bit as good as it was when it was released ten years ago. The jokes and comedic components are still very funny. The emotional progression of the main character is still relatable to the audience. Overall, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” holds up.