Deleted Scenes 04.24.08: To the Finish - All the Movies of the Apatow Oeuvre

Posted by Robert Sullivan on 04.24.2008

Yes, I know I promised the end of the Slow Starters, but...this'll be good too, I promise. Come inside if you don't believe me, you'll see.

Hello again, everybody. I'm Rob, this is Deleted Scenes, and yes, one of my favorite words is "oeuvre." It's fun to say, makes you sound intelligent, and in the purposes of this column extends over the vast array of films (okay, four) produced and/or written and/or directed by Judd Apatow.

No, we're not counting stuff like Drillbit Taylor, sorry...as much as the Adam Baldwin cameo and My Bodyguard reference kicked ass, the rest of it proved Owen Wilson had a good reason to listen to Linkin Park and cut himself a few months ago.

Now readers, I'm sure you were all waiting with rightly hardened nipples for the conclusion of my Slow Starters column. And I was writing that, but in the middle of that, I started talking about Forgetting Sarah Marshall and got sidetracked. Why was I writing about that? Intro material that would've had no transitional material after it, as per the norm. So next week, I promise, more of you comparing your Slow Starters with mine and finding out why I have much better reasons for mine.

Anyway, I caught Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which I found to be pretty good. Some negative-leaning early buzz had worried me, but it was a worthy addition to this strange Nuevo Hughes canon that seems to be forming with Judd Apatow and his company of regular players.

Of course, it being an Apatow movie, Forgetting Sarah Marshall needed another trip to the editing room and the ending kinda/sorta/maybe copped out on us, but...what's that? Yes, I hear the profane bewilderments of some readers right now. "Apatow movies cop out," you say disbelievingly, well...yeah, mostly.

When it comes to the big four releases in the Apatow ouevre, The 40-Year-Old Virgin is really the only one that totally fit with its story (the dance routine included). Andy Stitzer finds love with someone who falls for him in a believable fashion, surprisingly does a very sweet job with the potentially awkward line "I realize now that it was just because I was waiting for you," Bizarre "Hair"-Inspired Dance Sequence, end of movie. That's fine and completely worked for the film.

However, Knocked Up concludes with the insistence that, to be a "mature adult," you have to work in a cubicle and go to bed at 8:00 PM. There is no middle ground found to be the "correct" path - Ben has to completely and entirely sell out to Alison's way of thinking, and he does. We close on the happy family enjoying a day at the park, smiling merrily on a swing, and expected not to think to ourselves, "Ben's now stifled professionally and doesn't see his friends anymore...why is this a happy ending again?" Surprisingly, you can be a responsible and mature adult without cutting your balls off, Judd.

Superbad, well, we've gotten into that. It went all the way to the 3-yard line and then pulled a cinematic Earnest Byner with its everyone gets laid megahappy ending. But hey, we've already done that, moving on.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall...now, it's true I was inspired to write about how the endings mostly insult the audience at Apatow movies. However, by criticizing this one, I don't mean to say it does what Apatow movies usually do and be untrue to the narrative that preceded it. Mainly, it's an idea for an alternate ending, one I think is a slightly better fit rather than a Superbad's-ending-blew-and-here's-why rant. Forgetting Sarah Marshall has a tough ending to pick apart, and I'm going to need more time (read: screenings) to decide whether I'm okay with it or not. If you haven't seen it yet, leave the room. Go ahead, I'll be fine waiting.

Everyone gone?

Okay, well, it's another Apatow megahappy ending. Peter gets the girl, they all live happily ever after, the end. In some ways, I found it fine - Rachel is angry at Peter slipping, even for a moment, with Sarah Marshall and kicks him out of her life, telling him to never contact her again. And at the end, she does mention with appreciation that besides sending her a flyer to come see his puppet rock opera about "Dracula," Peter respected her wishes and didn't call...except for a quick hang-up, but that's excusable.

However, for a movie called Forgetting Sarah Marshall and not My Next Girlfriend After Sarah Marshall, wouldn't it be better if Rachel came to see the show to show that she's forgiven him and they part as friends? In my judgment, and I think it's supported by the movie itself, we saw a rebound fling that got Peter out of the doldrums, not an everlasting relationship. Couldn't the right move then be, perhaps, Peter telling Rachel, "Thank you for helping me," and from that week in Hawaii Peter's inspired to go be happy elsewhere?

Just some thoughts. Just an alternate theory on what might've clicked just a bit more with the movie itself, in my view. Besides that, I didn't feel kicked in the balls at the end of Forgetting Sarah Marshall as I did after Knocked Up and Superbad, so at least Apatow's improving over time.

Until next time.