The 40-Year-Old Virgin
The 40-Year-Old Virgin is the latest entrant in the canon of unsophisticated comedies for adults that started with Old School back in 2003 and have proven a veritable gold mine for Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn and the Wilson brothers (Luke and Owen) in movies like Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy (2004), Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004) and Wedding Crashers (2005). Steve Carell makes the leap from supporting character to lead in Virgin, which he co-wrote with director Apatow (creator of TV's Undeclared and Freaks and Geeks), and makes the most of his showcase as Andy, a bewildered man thrown into an unfamiliar world of nightclubs and meat markets in an attempt to finally bed down with a woman. But it's not just Carell's slapstick skills that make the movie work as he encounters an outlandish series of hook-up disasters; it's also his basic sense of humanity when Andy meets a woman he actually falls in love with, only to find out she wants to wait a while before they consummate their relationship.
The written jokes are complimented by a lot of great improvisation from the supporting cast, especially Seth Rogen (I hope Christopher Guest takes note for one of his future mockumentaries). As with most movies of this ilk, it drags a bit when the plot starts steering towards its conclusion. The probably unnecessary extra 17 minutes in the DVD's unrated version don't help any, and I'm sure the theatrical version felt sharper. But despite these typical shortcomings, Virgin is unreservedly funny, and that's all you can ask of sophomoric comedies like these.
- May 15, 2006
DVD Extras
Believe it or not, there are even more deleted scenes than those that were added to the unrated version, including some hilarious improv between Rogan/Rudd and Rogan/Jane Lynch. There's also a montage of alternate punchlines from scenes in the film, a gag reel and Rogan's "dinner" with porn star Stormy Daniels.