Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
Well, I’d say it’s pretty much official. Steve Carell can do anything he wants now. He’s so good in THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN that I think he pretty much writes his own ticket from this point on. And even though Judd Apatow has an impressive resume already, this is his directorial debut in the world of feature films, and it’s a remarkably confident piece of work, managing to be both loose and incredibly well-structured at the same time. When the common complaint from moviegoers is that they aren’t offered anything fresh or original and that they’re sick of sequels and remakes, this has got to come as a breath of fresh air for everyone. It’s an R-rated comedy that fully embraces the freedom of the rating, but it’s not just dirty for the sake of it, and no matter how raunchy it gets, it always manages to be a character-oriented film first, genuinely heartfelt and absurdly silly in equal measure. In short, THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN does it all, and it does it very, very well.
On the surface, this looks like a one-joke film. The trailers that Universal cut for the film are good, but I wouldn’t call them great. That’s partially because much of what works in the film comes from watching everything in context. Carell plays Andy, a guy who works at Smart Tech, which looks a whole hell of a lot like a Circuit City or a Good Guys. He’s that guy who works in the shipping department who everyone sort of knows, but no one really knows very well. He’s invisible for the most part. He keeps to himself, seems pleasant but doesn’t really have a personality to speak of. I’ve worked with these guys. You often find that you’re hard-pressed to even remember their last name. It’s not that you dislike them... it’s just that they manage to leave almost no impression at all. I like how Carell plays the character at first. When we see his apartment and his unbelievably vast collection of geek toys, all still in their original packaging, it makes a lot of sense, and not as a cheap visual gag. Andy’s pretty much kept himself in the original packaging his whole life, as well, hermetically sealed off from any experience that might actually leave a mark on him, protected from life in every way.
The film is simplicity in motion. Andy’s co-workers need a fifth for poker, and they invite Andy. Over the course of the evening, it becomes painfully obvious that he’s a virgin, and the guys make it their mission in life to get him laid. It’s really not any more complicated or deep than that. Apatow’s film is, in many ways, a movie about male friendships that is specific and honest in a way that the overly-complicated WEDDING CRASHERS could never be. Each of the guys at the store has a very different hand they’ve been dealt with women. David (Paul Rudd) had one significant relationship... well, significant to him, anyway. Four months that he obsesses on endlessly seem to be the sum total of his experience with women. Oh... and his big box of porn. Cal (Seth Rogan) is the quiet overachiever, the one guy who seems to actually enjoy the company of women frequently. Jay (Romany Malco) has a steady girlfriend, but he cheats on her all the time. In the course of helping Andy lose his virginity, each of these guys gets a crash course in their own particular dysfunctions, and they all end up benefiting from Andy’s example. In fact, if I had to compare this to any film in terms of the specific high you get from watching it, it’s BIG. Andy’s a man-boy, but he grows up in the film, and in doing so, he forces everyone around him to do the same. Writing all this out, it’s like, “So, is it a comedy?” Have no fear. Apatow seems willing to milk a scene specifically because it makes him laugh, extended riffs where he lets the actors play. The film’s so damn genial that you’d have to really work at it to be unhappy by the end. You’d have to go into this film, arms crossed, pissed off, determined to have a shitty time. It’s just plain good-natured and effortless, the exact right combination.
Catherine Keener makes her first appearance a half-hour or so into the movie, and she doesn’t become a major character for another half-hour after that. But that’s fine. It feels more natural. She and Andy find each other rather than being thrown together by formula or outrageous circumstance. This doesn’t feel like a sitcom, despite being frequently irreverent and even surreal. Keener, for one thing, grounds the film and gives it a reality that’s pretty hard to deny. You can’t laugh her off. She’s such a good actress that she makes Trish a living, breathing person. It’s no wonder Andy grows up. He wants to earn the right to be with this woman.
The film’s not a particularly lush or beautiful movie visually. Apatow’s style is sort of Golden Age Landis, very clean and very straightforward, but with a nice palette courtesy cinematographer Jack N. Green (UNFORGIVEN). And even though there’s music used in the film, and it all seemed to work, with the exception of the totally batshit song that they chose to close the movie, I can’t remember a single music cue. And that’s a good thing. This isn’t a Nora Ephron film, like BEWITCHED, where you get the feeling that everyone thought it was the height of clever to pack the soundtrack with songs about witches and witchcraft. THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN is interested in creating a mood that draws you into the characters, and the result is such a great showcase for all four of the main actors, as well as supporting cast including Jane Lynch, Leslie Mann, and a scene-stealing David Koechner, that it’s bound to win Carell a lot of new fans. The TV spots that show the scene from BRUCE ALMIGHTY before showing 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN clips is smart. People have loved Carell stealing scenes in other films. Making the transition to a lead can be really tricky for comic performers, but he pulls it off with an almost deceptive ease. Carell’s got a real knack for playing someone who can make the audience feel embarrassed or awkward, but who you also end up rooting for. You want him to not only lose his virginity... but to also end up with the right person. The film doesn’t build to a series of painful contrivances designed to drive the main characters apart. Instead, there’s one argument, tensions that build naturally, things that are left unsaid until the wrong moment. And there’s one hell of a pratfall. Apatow manages the high and the lowbrow at the same time in many scenes.
The film clocks in right around two hours, but it feels like it earns that running time. It stays smart and engaging all the way to the end. Overall, this is one of this summer’s most successful releases, and it’s nice to see Apatow really step up to the plate like this. His creative winning streak continues unabated, and I can only hope this film is the hit it deserves to be so I can see what else Apatow has in mind, hopefully with Carell right there beside him.
I've got another couple of reviews to write, including one for the best film I've seen so far this year, and I'm going to a Paramount something-or-other tomorrow that's supposed to be about all their films for the fall. I'll bring you any worthwhile nuggets that come from that. All this plus one more DVD SHELF column for the week. Better get busy. Until then...
"Moriarty" out.
