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The Rewatchables ·

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

year 2008decade 00sdirector Nicholas Stollergenre Drama
host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryanhost Sean Fennessey
All 15 categories

The Neil McCauley “A Book about Metals” Award for Best Line from the Movie · 1:04:50

"Mutombo, out of the shot"

Bill Simmons: Asked how many times he has screenshotted this movie on his computer, like a Dr. Skin for Jason Segel, the reply is that it is Mr. Skin.

The film

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)

Directed by Nicholas Stoller · Drama

111 minutes

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Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Jason Segel Peter Bretter, a composer for TV shows
Kristen Bell Sarah Marshall, a famous TV actress
Mila Kunis Rachel Jansen, a desk clerk for a Hawaiian resort
Russell Brand Aldous Snow, a British rock star and Sarah's new boyfriend
Bill Hader Brian Bretter, Peter's stepbrother and best friend
Jack McBrayer Darald Braden, a guest at the resort and newlywed
Maria Thayer Wyoma Braden, Darald's wife
Jonah Hill Matthew Van Der Wyk, a waiter at Turtle Bay and obsessive fan of Aldous
Liz Cackowski Liz Bretter, Brian's wife
Da'Vone McDonald Dwayne, a bartender at the resort
Paul Rudd Chuck / Kunu, an air-headed surfing instructor
Jason Bateman Animal Instincts Detective, a character on Sarah Marshall's latest show
William Baldwin Himself / Det. Hunter Rush, a co-star on Sarah's show
Teila Tuli Kimo, a cook at the resort
Branscombe Richmond Keoki, a resort bartender

Everything from the episode

In the order the hosts got to it. Open a row for the discussion.

43:40

Casting What-Ifs

Mila Kunis auditioned for Katherine Heigl's role in Knocked Up before Apatow filed her away for this film; Aldous Sno...

Mila Kunis auditioned for Katherine Heigl's role in Knocked Up before Apatow filed her away for this film; Aldous Snow was written with Charlie Hunnam in mind and rewritten for Russell Brand

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:43:40Read transcript
  • Mila Kunis auditioned for Knocked Up and lost the role to Katherine Heigl, but Apatow filed her away and she got this one; whether Hathaway was also up for that part is not remembered, which raises the question of whether Knocked Up would have been better with Kunis.
  • One host is not a fan of Katherine Heigl on screen in movies or television, with no disrespect to the human being, while another is a big fan of her in Knocked Up; the case against her is that Heigl is not funny, Kunis is, and nobody bought that she would ever be interested in Seth Rogen.
  • The rebuttal is that re-engineering the casting is like saying the New Testament would be better with Bruce Willis, though it is a clear case of picking one actress over the other; Heigl works perfectly as a specific, annoying kind of person, and one host was ready for them to break up the whole time.
  • Aldous Snow (transcribed as Algiers Snow) was written with Charlie Hunnam in mind, who had Apatow history from Undeclared, and was entirely rewritten for Russell Brand; one host suspects it was not written at all and Brand simply did the role.
  • Earlier, during the intro, the note that Kunis had gone for the Katherine Heigl part in Knocked Up was explicitly parked for Casting What-Ifs.
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48:15

Half-Assed Internet Research

The script draws on Jason Segel's breakup with Linda Cardellini and three other breakups; one girlfriend dumped him w...

The script draws on Jason Segel's breakup with Linda Cardellini and three other breakups; one girlfriend dumped him while he was naked; Get Him to the Greek followed two years later with Jonah Hill as a different character; Inside of You was conceived as the worst song a girlfriend's new boyfriend could sing; the naked picture of Mila Kunis was computer-generated; the film is 60 to 70 percent scripted; Segel and Stoller reunited for The Muppets; the buffet waiter is surfer Kalani Robb

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 00:48:15Read transcript
  • The film is based on screenwriter Jason Segel's breakup with Linda Cardellini and three other breakups with unspecified women; the naked breakup did not involve Cardellini, but one girlfriend did dump him while he was completely naked, and rather than being devastated he found it hilarious and could not wait for her to leave so he could write it down.
  • Get Him to the Greek, the spinoff follow-up, came two years later from director Nicholas Stoller with Russell Brand and Jonah Hill; the hosts have seen it only once against 10 or 15 viewings of this film, listeners have requested it as a rewatchable, and the producer says it stuck with his generation, earning the title Lord of Gen Z.
  • Jonah Hill plays a different character in Greek, a newly hired A&R man for Diddy's label who must get Aldous to his tour dates over 24 hours, with Elizabeth Moss a big part of it; one host thinks it would have been funnier as the same character relocated to LA, and one host's kids loved The Babysitter with Jonah Hill.
  • The song Inside of You was thought up by Segel as the worst song your girlfriend's new boyfriend could sing in front of you; Russell Brand's on-stage performance of it in Hawaii, bending over into yoga poses, is called incredible.
  • The naked bathroom picture of Mila Kunis was created on a computer and was not real, something the publicity was very deliberate about getting out there: real dick, fake breasts; according to Stoller the film is 60 to 70 percent scripted and 30 to 40 percent improvised.
  • Segel and Stoller were reunited as screenwriters for The Muppets in 2011, Segel's dream project, and then did The Five-Year Engagement; the buffet waiter who later punches Segel is Kalani Robb, the surfer from Romentum Generation (as transcribed), which the hosts did not catch on first viewing; he seems taller than in life, is memorable bringing the second rum bottle, and was probably just hanging out surfing in Hawaii.
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59:05

Picking Nits

Peter should have known the crime show was canceled since he wrote its music; Rachel lacked the authority to hand him...

Peter should have known the crime show was canceled since he wrote its music; Rachel lacked the authority to hand him the $6,000-a-night suite; Aldous Snow is far too famous to travel without an entourage yet gets a normal room; Sarah Marshall going to Hawaii so soon is a snake move; how Hader could know she was going to Hawaii; Peter fully naked in his unlocked dressing room

In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 00:59:05Read transcript
  • Wouldn't Peter have known the crime show got canceled, since he wrote music for it? The hosts wonder what year it came out and note he uses a cell phone a fair amount, though it could plausibly slip past him.
  • Does Rachel have the authority to give him the Kapua suite? No way; she is fired within ten minutes, there does not seem to be a lot going on at Turtle Bay, she fraternizes with guests and cuts out for a hike, and she hands over the $6,000-a-night Oprah suite on the condition that he clean up after himself.
  • One host wonders about trying this at hotels, asking for the suite saved for someone like Megan Allison (as transcribed) and promising to clean up, which would require being embarrassed by your ex in front of the receptionist; staging that with a fake divorce announcement earns the reply that it sounds like a sociopath, and the joke shifts the analogy onto a host considered a more realistic divorce candidate walking up to reception.
  • The defense is that Sarah Marshall is famous and he was dumped and humiliated in favor of Aldous Snow; the counter is that real hotels make you fill out a form to get toothpaste, and she is not the manager; the hosts concede it is a leap of faith they never questioned, since she could simply have said they had a room and he just gets a dope suite.
  • How famous is Russell Brand's musician supposed to be? He closes Access Hollywood and writes the anthem of his generation, a male Winehouse and an A list celebrity, yet he is the first musician ever with no entourage, which is completely unrealistic; he would have had three people and a bodyguard and is far too normal for a famous person.
  • He reminds one host of Richard Ashcroft of The Verve walking into a Hawaii bar grill ten years after his hit, but Access Hollywood presents him as a major star, more like Adam Levine meets Liam Gallagher; Adam Levine at Turtle Bay would not be alone and would probably rent the whole resort.
  • The couple has a normal room with another room on the other side of the wall while Segel gets the suite; he is about to go on an 18-month world tour, so he is obviously successful but not enough for the $6,000 suite; that may have been improvised rather than accurate tour logistics, and the hosts joke about deleting the movie from Sling.
  • The hosts want a consulting firm for questions like this: any basketball scene, the 100-yard football field with no end zones, the boxing ring that is too small, and the last-minute drive that somehow goes backwards from the 40 to the 30.
  • It feels like a real snake move by Sarah Marshall to go to Hawaii so quickly after the breakup, though she had dated the guy for a year; when Hader tells Peter to go on vacation alone but not to Hawaii, the implication is that he knows she is going there, and nobody can explain how, unless he simply thought it was weird.
  • At the very end the callback has him completely naked in his own unlocked dressing room when Mila Kunis walks back in; nobody likes being naked, and one host marvels at how many human-anatomy conversations they have had with Bill in two weeks; the explanation offered is that he is taking off a unitard with no underwear underneath and is comfortable in his own body, and the Stoller interview had nothing on his prep for that shot.
  • Earlier, before the Joey Pants Award, one host asked to pick nits because of a Turtle Bay complaint and was told to hold on.
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1:07:22

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Was Dracula the musical a good idea? Did Rachel and Peter stay together? How many seasons did Animal Instincts run?

Was Dracula the musical a good idea? Did Rachel and Peter stay together? How many seasons did Animal Instincts run?

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:07:22Read transcript
  • Was Dracula the musical a good idea? One host thinks it was and calls it a favorite part and a billion dollar idea; the origin story recited is that Segel wanted the Dracula puppet musical to be the movie and Apatow told him it was not a movie but a funny part in his movie, effectively Segel putting out that he wanted to be the Muppets guy, which worked out, even though he also wanted to show his dick.
  • The puppet musical could have had a chance; the low-key funny part is that Peter is not Mozart, it is a weird bad idea most significant others would not get, yet it is relatable for anyone of a certain age into Stephen Sondheim and the Muppets who wants to work in Hollywood; the dark gothic Neil Diamond line recalls the super in Big Lebowski inviting people to his interpretive dance, and everybody in LA has a weird idea that sometimes becomes really successful.
  • Did Rachel and Peter stay together? Probably not: she is back in Hawaii within three months, or her ex-boyfriend shows up in LA and murders both of them and Animal Instincts investigates; Animal Instincts ran about four and a half seasons, three years on NBC and one more on Fox after cancellation, not enough for residuals.
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