Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Nicholas Stoller’s first feature came from Jason Segel’s own life, and Segel wrote it. He has said he was once dumped while naked and spent the conversation planning to use it. The first draft had him dress before the talk; Judd Apatow wanted him naked throughout, so the opening works by outlasting comfort rather than by shock. Hawaii is a constraint, not scenery. The island stretch took 33 days at the Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu’s north shore, and the plot locks the ex and her new partner into one hotel, so the comedy must come from being unable to leave. Sarah also gets a scene to argue her side. The puppet Dracula musical that closes the film is no late gag. Segel wrote it alone at home beforehand to restart his career; Jim Henson’s shop built the puppets, and it led him and Stoller to pitch a new Muppets picture to Disney. Russell Brand’s Aldous Snow later got his own film. A good fit if you want the breakup scene to run well past comfort and read the closing puppet musical as the real idea. Not for you if you would rather male nudity did not carry a whole gag, or need the resort stretch to keep moving the story.