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That soundtrack composer and musician Peter Bretter (Jason Segel) is nude as he’s unceremoniously dumped by television star Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell) is known to anyone who’s seen the film’s trailer. What you might not have known until you dive into this disc’s supplements is that the incident is autobiographical. Segel both stars in this witty and original film and wrote the screenplay. He tapped into his life on several levels to impart humor and pathos into what could have been a mawkish, clichéd romantic comedy. Instead we have a delightful romp of self-loathing and self-discovery, all wrapped in quirky and borderline crude humor.

Peter is devastated. He decides to run off to Turtle Bay Resort on the island of Oahu to distract himself and recover. Alas, he discovers that Sarah is also at the resort, and with her new lover, self- absorbed rock star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand). She thinks he’s followed her. He can’t believe his bad luck. If he leaves, he’ll seem to be running away; if he stays, he’ll have to endure being alone in the most beautiful and romantic resort on Oahu, watching honeymooning couples and Sarah and Aldous frolicking and canoodling.

That he’s emotionally stressed doesn’t go unnoticed by the resort’s beautiful receptionist, Rachel Jansen (Mila Kunis), and it’s just as well. He’s a walk-in without reservation and only through her sympathy and generosity was he able to secure the last available room, a suite he can’t afford that she sneaks him into until the party that reserved it next arrives in a few days.

Perhaps Rachel takes pity on him, perhaps she empathizes, having had a recent breakup of her own, but they begin to spend time together. What may have begun as a kind gesture to comfort a wounded soul turns into something more. And as Sarah sees them together, and as she becomes disenchanted with Aldous’ selfishness, she begins to wonder if she had made the right decision.

The underlying structure is familiar; it’s hardly original, but the execution is. Segel’s character and his script are unique. How many composers do you know cry like a girl and are working on a musical version of Dracula with puppets? The banter is clever. The situations aren’t forced or farcical. This is simply a delightful romantic comedy that has a satisfying resolution, even if it’s predictably inevitable.

The four principal players are uniformly excellent. Segel is a mess, depressed and injured. Kunis is charming, with lovely huge eyes and a gritty little voice that is both appealing and a little odd. Bell surprised me; my only experience with this actress is in the wonderfully imaginative television series Heroes. She expresses a far greater range here and is lovely to look at in her string Bikini. But the scene stealer of the show is Russell Brand. The supplements reveal that there was much adlibbing and improvisation, and his is easily the drollest. Director Nicholas Stoller does a reasonable job capturing the beauty that is Hawaii while maintaining a suitable visual style and brisk pace.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The film’s theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 is presented in a great looking high definition transfer compressed with the AVC video CODEC. Chroma is spectacular, with pastel blue waters and verdant tropical growth running though the resort. Flesh tones look natural, although a little sunburn could have been either the sun or the transfers color balance. Small object detail is very good, but finely grained textures aren’t quite as revealing as the best BDs. Video dynamic range is also excellent, with fine shadow detail in the nighttime scenes, but when properly lit players stand in front of a window, that bright background can be a bit blown out. As you’d expect for a new film, the transfer print is pristine. I didn’t notice any digital artifacts, but I think I saw the ocaisional, thin edge halo.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The lossless DTS-HD 5.1 has fine timbre that conveys the spoken word with a pleasing sense of presence. The surrounds are more active than I expected, providing ambience and background noises. Of note are the sonics of surf sweeping over the viewer and evoking some rare deep bass. The score and source tracks are conveyed reasonably well. Sound effects simply serve the onscreen images. The all-important dialog comes through distortion-free throughout.

The alternate audio tracks are in French and Spanish, presented in DTS 5.l. The optional subtitles are in English SDH, French, and Spanish.

The Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

You’ll find Universal’s My Scenes, the mechanism to bookmark favorite scenes for random access. Karaoke features seven songs with and without soundtrack vocals; whenever I find such a feature, I’m never sure if it’s a joke or if the disc’s producers actually expected it to entertain.

There are eleven deleted and extended scenes (19:24, 1.78:1, 1080p). Some fill in blanks that are understood by inference. One extends our understanding of the self-absorbency of the rock star. There’s an unnecessary extension of the Yoga sequence that segues into an odd horse sequence that features an unconvincingly hysterical Sarah. (Why didn’t she simply get off?) You’ll find some additional interaction with a pair of quirky newlyweds. Peter sings a superfluous self-pity song. There’s a funny little breakfast scene. We watch Sarah and Aldous fail to communicate. There is an alternative Peter and Sarah sex scene, a goodbye, and a superfluous discussion about Peter’s plans.

Come to think of it, the bulk of the supplements can be considered deleted scenes. Puppet Break-Up (2:29, 1.78:1, 1080p) is an enactment of Peter and Sarah’s original break-up during the Dracula musical.

Line-O-Rama (7:49, 1.78:1, 1080p) is a nice little collection of various performers adlibbing during various scenes, some more amusing than others. The two lead actresses must have had nude clauses in their contracts; their breasts are covered with a defocusing circle in a couple of sex scenes.

Sex-O-Rama (2:42, 1.78:1, 1080p) is a collection of scenes on which Peter is having empty sex with a number of women after the initial break-up. I found it an odd artistic choice that Segel appears full frontal nude but there are no nude women in the film. A couple may be found here.

Drunk-O-Rama (2:29, 1.78:1, 1080p) is another collection of adlibs; these are during the sequence in which Peter gets smashed at the resort bar.

The Gag Reel (5:44 1.78 1080p) is better than average, with the usual screw-ups and blown lines. But the infectious laughter makes this blooper reel more entertaining.

A Taste of Love (6:17, 1.78:1, 1080p) is a bizarre little short that reveals that Jason Segel was writing the Dracula musical for puppets quite seriously before he wrote the screenplay. It was then folded into the script. The featurette also confirms what I suspected based on style design; the puppets were made by Jim Henson’s creature shop. Cute.

Dracula’s Lament (3:12, 1.78:1, 1080p) is a table read of the bar scene in which Peter is forced to sing his song in front of a bemused audience. The cast is a great audience.

Russell Brand: Aldous Snow (5:55, 1.78:1, 1080p) is an interesting example of how the screenwriter’s intent to have a rather intellectual character is transformed into something entirely different simply on the strength of a funny but bizarre audition.

The Letter “U” (3:45, 1.78:1, 1080p) is a truly odd little short of Aldous Snow in character doing a Sesame Street type sequence about the letter U. I suspect it was completely improvised.

We’ve Got To Do Something (3:47, 1.78;1, 1080p) is an entirely disposable music video.

Crime Scene (4:10 aggregate with the Play All option, 1.781, 1080p) is a collection of sequences that were used in the film to show us Sarah at work in her television series. This is a wonderful send-up of the inane dialog found in CSI Miami.

Sarah’s New Show – Alts (2:15, 1.781, 1080p) is a series of droll stingers for ridiculous concepts for her new show (but no more ridiculous concepts than are on TV today).

Raw Footage – Video Chat (7:13, two side by side 2.35:1 frames, 1080p) is just as the title implies. These are the predominantly adlibbed video conference Peter had with his best friend while in Hawaii. This could almost be another gag reel since the players can’t seem to keep a straight face.

Video Diaries (35:16, 1.78:1, 480p and 1080p) is a collection of candid behind the scenes sequences recorded with a low contrast camcorder that’s slightly out of convergence. The director introduces most of the sequences. They take us through the whole of the shooting schedule and give the players and the crew ample opportunity to have some fun with one another. It’s a nice blend of entertainment and information about the principal photography.

You’ll find the Red Band Trailer (2:55, 1.85:1, 1080p), which leaves the feature length audio commentary with the director, producers, and stars. This is a breezy, fun track with lots of horsing around and laughter. It’s here where Segel shares most of the autobiographical aspects of the screenplay. Never dull, sometimes informative, this is one of the more enjoyable commentary tracks.

You’ll find some PiP and Web-based content, requiring Profile 1.1 and 2.0 respectively. I’m getting close to being able to view such features.

The 118-minute film is organized into twenty chapters.

Final Thoughts

I was thoroughly charmed by the film, a balanced blend of comedy, romance, and a soupcon of drama. Engaging performances and a clever script entertain. The video and audio qualities aren’t up to the best of BDs, but between the film and the very generous extras, I will overlook the shortcomings. Recommended.