“… really fits the definition of “feel-good”.”

Yesterday I had every intention of watching The Killing of a Sacred Deer, until I came across a Reddit thread talking about Forgetting Sarah Marshall. The thread was talking about, since it is the film’s tenth anniversary, how well it holds up, and the comments were filled with people praising and quoting the movie. Forgetting Sarah Marshall has been a favourite movie of mine for a very long time, and reading through all of those comments got me nostalgic so I decided to watch that instead. For those who don’t know Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a movie about Peter, the ex-boyfriend of television star Sarah Marshall, who goes to Hawaii to forget about his recent breakup and has to spend his time there with his recent ex-girlfriend who is staying at the same resort.

It’s always next to impossible for me to relate exactly why I like my favourite movies, but I feel that the Reddit thread did a pretty good job of summing it up. As I said, the comments were filled with people quoting the movie and reminiscing over how great it was, and that’s one of the things that makes Forgetting Sarah Marshall so great: the script. Every single line in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, regardless of how inconsequential it is or how small the character who said it is, is quotable. And not just in a ‘you can repeat it’ kind of way, but in a ‘it’s fucking hilarious, even out of context’ kind of way. Seriously, every line of this script is gold, and delivered by actors who are well-versed in comedy makes for a truly hilarious experience.

And it isn’t just the comedy that makes the script so great, but also the realistic look at a lot of aspects of life pertaining to relationships. One thing Forgetting Sarah Marshall does really well is show you both sides of the story of the breakup. It doesn’t create a villain because, much like in real life, situations like this are rather complex. The movie also does a really good job at portraying depression, or at least depressive behaviours. The characters presented in Forgetting Sarah Marshall are so real, and the movie tackles a lot of issues in very mature ways while still being able to make you double-over in from laughter.

Overall Forgetting Sarah Marshall is a very special movie. Not only does it tackle the issues of relationships in a very mature way, but it also allows itself to show the humour in these dark situations as well. It’s an amazing movie that really fits the definition of “feel-good”.

And let’s be real, those Infant Sorrow songs are legitimately good.

I give Forgetting Sarah Marshall an A