The 40 Year Old Virgin Review

The 40 Year Old Virgin

Year: 2005
Director: Judd Apatow
Starring: Steve Carell, Catherine Keener, Paul Rudd, Romany Malco, Seth Rogen
Distributor: Universal Pictures
MPAA: Rated R

When they started airing trailers for The 40 Year Old Virgin, people started laughing because they recognized Steve Carell from his previous film as funny co-anchor Evan Baxter from Bruce Almighty. So it was nice to see him playing the main role in this film. However I still had my doubts about this film since it was rated R. I didn't think alot of people would go see this film, but boy was I wrong. After grossing over $175,000,000 worldwide on a budget of about $26 million and being well received by critics, I was more than surprised. The 40 Year Old Virgin has now been like a classic with everyone I know having seen it.

Andy Stitzer (Steve Carell) is your typical nerdy 40 year old man, who works in a electronics store who also collects action figures. When his three co-workers David (Paul Rudd), Jay (Romany Malco) and Cal (Seth Rogen) find out that Andy is still a virgin. His three buddies will do anything to get him laid, but Andy has to start back from the basics which is how to meet a woman. At first, Andy is embarrassed with the woman he tries to date or have a one night stand with. Things looks bright for Andy when he meets an exciting businesswoman by the name of Trish (Catherine Keener) and she's also a single mother of three. Then things are well enough for Andy to fall into his first relationship, but is too frighten to tell Trish that he is still a virgin.

The story of The 40 Year Old Virgin works really well. Its filled with interesting scenes where the story really gets to you and makes you wonder what where going to see next. The important reason why the story works so well is because its real, the characters experience something we all have been through at some point. Its nothing fake or unrealistic. The story works on so many levels and even ends in a realistic way. This film marked the first time Judd Apatow made his big debut as a funny, but realistic director.

The acting in The 40 Year Old Virgin is also good. We get introduced to these characters that are funny, but also very entertaining at the same time. Steve Carell pulls off the sweet, but dorky Andy Stitzer and its nice to see him getting a major role in a film since we were getting used to him as a side character. In all in all, the cast is great and the acting works. Everyone seems to be in their right roles and I wouldn't change a thing.

A movie like this would have been nothing without its jokes right? This film is alittle weird because I at first didn't know it was rated R until I finally went to go see it. So obviously we wouldn't be getting the typical jokes we got use to getting from PG-13 rated films. This film is filled with jokes that are either funny or plain lousy and I say that because in some parts it just doesn't really go well with the film. However in saying this, there are definitely parts of the film where the laughter truly shines like for example the waxing scene.

There isn't really any music in the film. Whats there are some parts where their some slight music coming in to keep the scenes from falling apart. Its pretty nice because it focuses more on the dialogue with less music. I don't really know if this works best for the film, but I didn't really find it a problem since a typical comedy like this doesn't need a powerful score or anything.

In the end, The 40 Year Old Virgin is a very good film. This film really jump started Judd Apatow's career before he went on to making even better films like Knocked Up. I was really happy to see Steve Carell getting his own major role in the film and just how real the story was. The movie is very funny if you don't mind some occasional dumb sex jokes and is very entertaining. Its a nice romance movie to watch with your friends who I recommend are 18 or over.

Rating: 7.6 / 10