The 40 Year Old Virgin

Finally, there is a comedy for grown-ups and it is FUNNY. That comedy is The 40 Year Old Virgin. Critics have called 2005 the year of R-rated comedies, but I have had so many misses with comedies in the past that I had doubts about this movie even seconds before it started. To my relief, this movie is everything that it is hyped to be: hilarious, sweet and touching.

Writer/director, Judd Apatow, along with writer/star, Steve Carell, have created a character that no other writer has touched on before and found plenty of humor in this small niche character – a 40 year old male virgin. As Andy the virgin (played by Steve Carell) is set up by his male friends in pursuit of losing his virginity, he finds true love and everlasting friendships along the way.

The reason this no-big-name comedy can generate such box office and critical buzz lies in its likable but flawed everyday characters that the audience can easily identify with. Andy is a common guy with an uncommon secret – he has never had a home run in the sexual front. There is really nothing wrong about him except that he collects action figures including the Six Million Dollar Man’s boss, watches Survivor religiously and, one more thing, rides a bike instead of driving a car (actually, he doesn’t even know how to drive a car at the beginning of the movie). However, underneath his nerdy appearance and quirky habits, Andy is also a man with a child’s sensitivity and, pardon my clichés, a heart of gold. Steve Carell looks like he was born to play Andy. He so flawlessly captures Andy’s shyness around women, awkwardness with guy talks and boyish joy about his toy figures and reality shows that it is a wonder he had not created this character sooner. Carell even sacrificed his real chest hair in the outrageously funny wax scene that has resulted in realistic performances from him and his costars and plenty of laughter from the audience.

This movie is not only about Andy’s sexual initiation and his relationship with single mother/grandmother, Trish, but also very much a buddy film. Andy’s friendship with his coworkers is actually the main source of laughing materials in this movie, especially since Jay (played by Romany Malco), David (played by Paul Rudd) and Cal (played by Seth Rogen) are three “endearing” types of men in our society: the cheater, the stalker and the pervert, respectively. Apatow and Carell frequently use the banters among the guys to both reflect and poke fun at macho men’s view of everything in our society. One good example is the scene in which David and Cal play video games while trash talking about each other with “you are so gay because….” It is so irreverent and thigh slappingly funny. Even though the three friends are male chauvinist lowlifes at times, they are not without any redeeming qualities. They are extremely loyal to their friends and extremely pathetic when dumped by their girlfriends. In the end, Andy’s innocence and decency more or less rub off on those three characters. The three actors who play the three friends all have terrific comic timing and Paul Rudd may be the most recognizable face of the three simply because he has been in this business much longer than the other two. Rudd could have easily become a conventional movie star by playing in big studio productions, but he has always chosen to play smaller roles which allow him to widen his range. Like Peter Sarsgaard, he seems to forever wear a barely visible cynical grin on his face and is capable of delivering the funniest line with a frown.

The movie also stars one of the most underused actresses of our times – Catherine Keener as Andy’s love interest, Trish. I wish more filmmakers would write strong female roles for actresses like Keener. With botox and dieting all the rage among Hollywood actresses, Keener is a breath of fresh air. The little lines on her face add richness to whatever story she is in and make whatever character she plays that much more believable. I always enjoy seeing a trace of her unique sassiness in her characters and wish I could catch it by simply watching her performances.

If you are, like me, an addict to “cheesy” soft rock of the 80s, then this movie soundtrack is a must-own for you. It has Lionel Richie’s Hello, Asia’s Heat of the Moment, and of course, what else for an avid action figure collector but the theme song of The Greatest American Hero, Believe it or Not. Yes, you better believe it. At the end of the movie, there is a There’s Something About Mary-esq song and dance number. Once Andy is virgin no more, he breaks into The 5^th Dimension’s Aquarius and soon the whole cast joins in the fun. To tell the truth, my feet started tapping at the same time.

The 40 Year Old Virgin may not revive Michael McDonald’s career, but it sure will make Steve Carell a bright comedy star.