NoFace for Film

Title: The 40-Year Old Virgin
Year: 2005
Director: Judd Apatow
Starring Cast: Steve Farrell, Katherine Keener, Paul Rudd
Rated: R

NoFace Rating: 5 out of 7

Steve Carell is in the title role as Andy Stitzer, a good natured, shy, reserved guy who works at an electronics store (which looks suspiciously like Circuit Shitty City). Andy is, for lack of a better word, a geek. An otaku nerd. His apartment has wall to wall action figures, all still in their original packaging. He doesn’t go out with friends, content in playing video games. He painstakingly paints little figurines for his board games. He reads comic books in bed. Now, while lots of guys nowadays have similar hobbies (my boyfriend for one, has a lovely little Star Wars collection at his parents’ house), Andy is still different from most guys in that at age 40, he hasn’t bumped uglies with anyone. Ever.

When his co-workers (Paul Rudd, Romany Malco, and Seth Rogen) learn about Andy’s extreme inexperience with women, they take it upon themselves to help him finally get laid. Each friend has his own perspective of how to meet and treat women, and poor Andy tries his best to follow each person’s advice. Things get a little more complicated when Andy meets Trish (Catherine Keener), a lovely and outspoken woman who runs an eBay store.

Steve Carell is brilliantly cast as the unfortunate virgin, with the puppy dog eyes and the sweet smile. I first saw Carell in Bruce Almighty, as Evan, Bruce’s pompus ass nemesis, and in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, as bizarre weatherman Brick Tamland, and I loved him in those small roles. He’s absolutely hysterical. Paul Rudd seems to be doing better as a comedian than as a romantic lead in a romantic comedy. Although I developed a GIANT crush on him in Clueless, his funny, funny characters in Anchorman and Virgin are convincing me that he should stick to this comedy thing instead…at least, for now.

This movie is hysterically funny. I was laughing my ass off the whole time. The misadventures Andy gets into while trying to follow his friends’ advice are really hilarious. The interactions between the friends is also great to watch. One of my favorite scenes is between Rudd and Rogen, who throw barbs at each other that start with, “You know how I know that you’re gay?” while playing Mortal Kombat. It’s really funny to see these two adult men acting like complete 12 year old boys. On the DVD, there’s an extended version of this scene, and by the sound of it, I think the actors were adlibbing most of their lines.

That being said, this movie is definitely for mature audiences. My parents rented this a few weeks ago and complained that it was too “dirty”. Um duh, the movie is called The 40-Year Old VIRGIN. What the hell did they think it was going to be about- puppies and butterflies? Of course not! It’s about a virgin trying to get laid, for god’s sake! That’s why you should all read the ratings, people. This movie is rated R. There’s a lot of sexual content in different forms (not just people having sex), and the dialogue between Andy and his friends is really dirty. Funny, but dirty. Also, people who are easily offended shouldn’t watch this movie. Older folks, feminists, politically correct sticklers- stay away from this film. Parents- do NOT let your young children watch this.

On the other hand, everybody else- rent it! Rent this movie! It’s hysterical!

Technorati Tags: 40-Year Old Virgin, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Catherine Keener