CS Weekly Archive > Weekend Read > 8/19/05

Explore this Virgin Territory

By danny munso

A geeky virgin gets back into the dating game and meets a single mother who steals his heart in a comedy that knows the difference between a good story and a good concept, and excels at both (as well as a lot of raunchy sex jokes).

The 40 Year-Old Virgin

Judd Apatow & Steve Carell

Andy Stitzer (Steve Carell) has a secret, and it's one he never planned on telling. But when a few of his buddies from work discover that he is, in fact, a 40-year-old virgin, they make it their life's goal to find a woman to deflower their friend as quickly as possible. Dealing with females is foreign to Andy, who is used to spending his evenings playing video games and watching Survivor with his elderly neighbors. But when Andy meets attractive single mom Trish (Catherine Keener), will his insecurities (and idiotic buddies) ruin his chances with her?

Like Wedding Crashers and There's Something About Mary before it, The 40 Year-Old Virgin knows the value of a funny story filled with substance. So often (as with a movie I reviewed last week which shall go unnamed coughcoughDeuceBigalowEuropeanGigolo cough), we are treated to films that think throwing a few R-rated jokes up on the screen will be enough to sustain an audience's interest. When R-rated comedies work, it's because we're completely invested in the characters, whether it's Ben Stiller chasing his childhood love or Owen Wilson's desperate attempts to steal his beloved from her jerk fiancé. The 40 Year- Old Virgin succeeds because we want Andy to get the girl. And, it's an added bonus that we're dying of laughter as he attempts to do it.

Writers Judd Apatow and Steve Carell honed their comedy chops on Freaks and Geeks and The Daily Show respectively, but here they venture into raunchy comic territory neither has trod before. The tone is set in the opening scene, where we see Andy waking and getting ready for work…with an erection. When Andy's sexual past (or lack of one) is discovered by his co-workers, they give him all the crude, pointless advice one would expect men to give, culminating in his friend David (Paul Rudd) handing Andy his large box of porn. crude, pointless advice one would expect men to give, culminating in his friend David (Paul Rudd) handing Andy his large box of porn. Andy's fruitless search for a sexual partner covers many territories, including a life-lesson from caring but misguided, friend Jay (Romany Malco) on the internal programming men have to go after "drunk bitches," a frightening drive home with a drunk, and co-worker Cal's (Seth Rogan) surefire advice on how to get a hot girl: "Be David Caruso in Jade."

Apatow and Carell were smart enough to realize that, although they had a funny concept, the idea itself could only carry the film so far. They knew they needed Andy not only to meet someone, but to fall in love. This idea launches the second half of the film, which is as sweet and touching as the first half is bawdy. Andy and Trish's relationship wanders back and forth from perfect to shaky to messed-up. In other words: it's real. Luckily for the audience, the humor does not let up, although it is considerably cleaner.

But the writers' main accomplishment is Andy himself. The titular virgin is full of mock-worthy characteristics (no driver's license, collects action figures, no plans for the future), but is written in such a way that he becomes almost irresistible. It would have been easy (and cruel) to concoct a movie of how pathetic Andy is, but Apatow and Carell allow the audience to see past Andy's superficial flaws and let us know early on that this is a great guy whose life hasn't panned out for whatever reason. Instead of pitying a 40-year-old virgin, we're on his side, cheering Andy on with the rest of his electronics store pals, only without the horrible advice.

With 40 Year-Old Virgin, screenwriters Judd Apatow and Steve Carell have created the rare comedy that appeals to both men and women, with the lewd behavior being outshone by a classic romantic story. The writers could have gone for the cheap sex jokes and made this a one-night stand; instead, by layering in characters and storylines that make us care, they created something that has the potential for a long-term love affair.

The 40 Year-Old Virgin
Universal Pictures
Rated R; 116 min.

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Danny Munso graduated from film school in 2004 and can currently be found on his computer working on one of his many half-written screenplays. Or, more likely, he's on the Internet checking the scores of his beloved Bay Area sports teams.

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