Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with another glowing review for Steve Carell's THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN. After that great uncut international trailer there is no doubt in my mind that this one will bring the goods. Brick rules! Here's another positive to add onto the pile!
Potsie here with a look at THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN. I have seen a handful of early (and very positive) reviews posted here and lets just say that I’m not one to buy into the hype. The same positive responses were being sent in for WEDDING CRASHERS, a movie I found just mildly amusing if not too long and never funny enough. Let’s face it, WEDDING CRASHERS is a PG-13 movie with a few swear words and some gratuitous nudity. For those of you who felt the same way…have no fear. The R-rated comedy is back in full force with THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN.
The plot is plain and simple. Andy (Steve Carell) is the title character. He’s a comic book junkie, he keeps his action figures in mint condition and during the day minds the storage unit at a Circuit City-type electronics store. Andy does not drive as he relies on his bike to get him to work, nor does he have many friends (only some old neighbors to watch SURVIVIOR with). In fact, one of his fellow employees believes Andy is a serial killer. All in all, he is your everyday geek with a soft heart and a deep dark secret…he has never been intimate with a woman. A few employees befriend Andy at a Poker game and after learning his secret, become determined to get this man laid. What follows re many humorous attempts from Andy to grab some attention from the ladies with little success. In comes Catherine Keener (BEING JOHN MALKOVICH) as the love interest. I would rather not go into much more plot detail, but what follows is in no way formulaic nor is it what you would expect.
Andy and his new found love’s relationship gives this raunchy laugh fest a soft touch which proves to be effective. By this time the audience had grown quite fond of Andy. We root for him. The loser in all of us must prevail.
Enough plot, on with my thoughts. The laugh a minute ratio on this movie is incredible. Mind you, it was a rough cut and ran almost two hours. However, there is enough material to turn this into a great 100 or so minute movie. Hopefully the editors will take out the one or two flat scenes I caught and tighten up a few loose edges. I seriously hope so because there is a classic laugh fest here just waiting to emerge. Rarely did a joke fall flat. It is R-rated and it is a hard R. The language is relentless and the subject matter is taken to the absolute limit. However this isn’t a gross out comedy, just a raunchy one.
Carell is an absolute joy here and a nice break from Will Ferrell and the rest of the “Frat Pack.” Of which, by the way, there are no appearances by. Carell (who also co-wrote the movie), doesn’t rely on cameos to save his film. He relies on the jokes, and they certainly deliver. Some of the best lines come from Paul Rudd and two unknowns as the friends. Catherine Keener, not one of my favorites, surprised me here with the most serious on screen presence and a believable match for Andy’s personality.
I really hope this does well at the box office. It feels more like a movie that might come and go at the theaters and then become a must see on DVD (i.e. AUSTIN POWERS 1, and OFFICE SPACE). I pray that the positive word of mouth will do this movie good. As we all know, funny comedies are hard to come by these days.
