The 40 Year-Old
Virgin (2005)
sex comedy
directed
by : Judd Apatow
featuring
: Steve Carell - Catherine Keener - Paul Rudd - Romany Malco - Seth Rogen
running
time : 1 hour 56 minutes
One man nervously ventures forth into the
final frontier in this comedy starring Daily Show regular Steve Carell.
Andy Stitzer (Carell) is a cheerfully geeky guy who is settling into middle
age with his large collection of comic books, action figures, and collectable
models. Andy works in the billing department of a big-box electronics store,
and seems reasonably happy with his life. However, one day his friends
and co-workers David (Paul Rudd), Jay (Romany Malco), and Cal (Seth Rogen)
discover that Andy has a secret -- due to his rather severe jitters around
women, Andy is still a virgin. Andy's pals are appalled at this state of
affairs, and set out to find a woman who'd be willing to get horizontal
with him. After a number of disastrous dates, everyone thinks Andy has
finally struck gold when he meets Trish (Catherine Keener), an attractive
single mother who takes an immediate liking to him. What the other guys
don't know is that Trish has just gotten out of a bad relationship, and
has informed Andy she isn't ready to be intimate with him just yet. The
40 Year-Old Virgin was the first feature film directed by Judd Apatow,
who previously served as a writer and producer for the well-regarded television
shows Freaks And Geeks, Undeclared, and The Larry Sanders Show.
Apatow's directorial debut, The
40 Year-Old Virgin accomplishes something very rare for a comedy, it is
a very funny, bawdy sex comedy that transcends the genre because of the
three-dimensional characters and the subtle acting. Carell created his
character while part of Chicago's Second City troupe, and like all of the
best sketches they produce, the laughs come more from the human behavior
of the characters than in the situation itself. Carell's pitch-perfect
performance is matched by Keener who creates a warm, appealing, intelligent
woman who would believably fall for Carell's character. All the supporting
players are given fully realized characters to play, making the outrageous
behavior even funnier because the audience can relate to the people even
if the actions seem outlandish. The screenplay is both full of big laugh
lines and works as a perfectly structured romantic comedy. In lesser hands,
this would have become a one-note comedy, but The 40 Year-Old Virgin is
a comedy symphony.