Note: this one’s going to show up on My 50 Favorite Films list when I revise it later this year.
There’s such joy in this film, and it’s palpable. I get this buzz sometimes from films – a high that permeates through me as I walk out of the theatre, forcing my lips into an ear-to-ear grin. I’m reminded how much I love film, and why. This film gave me that buzz like none other I’ve seen so far this year.
The 40-Year-Old Virgin is ribald and raw and wants to ride that line between acceptability and outright crassness at times, but unlike most of its contemporaries there’s no animosity here. Everyone’s having fun at the expense of no one – this is a remarkable feat when one considers the movie’s title.
Steve Carell plays the title character, Andy Stitzer, a warehouse associate at a Circuit City-clone that spends his downtime obsessing over the myriad collectables lining his apartment walls and, of course, never having sex. This is discovered by three co-workers (Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen and Romany Malco) during a late night poker game, and his new buddies promise to get Andy laid. This involves dragging Andy to clubs and date-a-minute sessions, tutoring him on the art of the seduction of the drunk, and pushing him to talk to anything remotely attractive that enters the shopping mall. This includes a young blonde who works at the bookstore next door (Elizabeth Banks, the Parker Posey clone from Spider-Man 2) who Andy is prompted by one buddy to “ask only questions” to. Never actually respond. This works.
Enter Trish (Catherine Keener.) She runs a “Sell your stuff on eBay” store across the street from where Andy works, and her neurotic confidence is the perfect compliment to his reserved inexperience. Embarrassed that she hid her three kids (and one grandchild) from Andy, Trish has a plan: get to know each other. No sex for twenty dates. Andy, struggling to reveal his deep, dark secret to this dream girl, jumps at the chance.
The 40-Year-Old Virgin succeeds by making this all as laid-back and friendly as one could imagine. The three buddies are excellently cast, played well by unknowns (save Paul Rudd, who we rarely see.) Rudd is surprisingly sweet and understandable as he aches for the girlfriend he dumped two years prior, while Malco channels Dave Chappelle well as the player who never saw a ho whose ass he couldn’t tap. Rogen is the wild card, saving his ribald side for what Andy casts aside. None of these characters are empty shells, merely walking avatars for dialogue that help to further the plot, as they would be in a lesser film. This is real support, and you’ll be seeing more of these guys in the future.
Carell and Keener carry the film, and their parts could not be recast better if you tried for twelve million years. The Daily Show vet is at his best yet here, balancing his oft-seen comedy chops with some true acting talent that bodes well for his future. As mentioned, he’s not here to make fun of this Andy he plays, but to inhabit him, show him off for us so we can understand – and enjoy his company, as his co-workers grow to do as well once they get to know him. Keener, meanwhile, is still the most underrated actress in Hollywood, an incredible statement to make six years after her breakout role in Being John Malkovich. A decade ago she was starring in indy films like Living in Oblivion and Walking and Talking and proving herself better than any material any writer could provide for her. She’s still on that level, creating a sexy and sympathetic companion for Andy that allows us to understand why he gravitates towards her rather than the buxom blonde his friends would rather him hook up with. What an incredible actress.
I spoil little by revealing that The 40-Year-Old Virgin
doesn’t carry his flower to year forty-one, and it’s Trish that plucks it. The film works logically towards this with only a few speed bumps: a few scenes, namely the chest-waxing escapade, run a tad long, and you could probably cut a few minutes overall off of the running time. It’s not perfect, but it’s damned near it, and Judd Apatow, best known for creating the TV series “Freaks and Geeks” and “Undeclared” should be congratulated on directing and co-writing (with Carell) an incredibly enjoyable film. Earlier this year, Wedding Crashers took better pedigree (Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson and The Christopher Walken) and an equally high concept idea and attempted to balance crudeness and sweetness. It failed miserably. Thank you, Judd Apatow, for showing us how it’s done. Thank you for this wonderful movie that just wants to have fun.
Wedding Crashers also co-starred Will Ferrell. So did Apatow’s last credit; he was a producer for last year’s horrid Anchorman. This film I just reviewed features three of the main stars from that latter picture: Carell, Rudd and David Koechner in a small role. No Ferrell in this film, though, and it’s the only good film in the bunch. No coincidence there.
***½