This is one of the funniest movies I've had the pleasure of catching at a movie theater in a long time. I thought I was purchasing more laughs for my buck buying the UNRATED version, but much to my disappointment this is definitely a case of MORE is LESS. The added scenes do nothing to enhance the original; in fact, I'd say 90% of these added scenes should have been left as "deleted scenes." They hurt the comedic pacing of the original. If you thoroughly enjoyed the original at the theaters, stay away from this unrated version. In fact, I'm so disappointed in this unrated version, I'm tempted to buy the r-rated "original" version even though it only comes in full screen (why the original is unavailable in the widescreen format is also cause for this fan to roll his eyes in disbelief).
Imagine you combined a few of the best parts of Something about Mary, 40 days and 40 nights, Sideways and ( as strange as it might sound) an after school special. Now, throw in more profanity than really necessary and imagine that the combination worked.
Plus, unlike the Josh Hartnett film, 40 days and 40 nights, there is some actual thought given to the kind of person who is shown.
It's not Shakespeare. It's not Once Upon a Time In Mexico. And it's not the Usual Suspects, but for what it is it works.
And what it is, is the smartest dumb movie I've seen in a very long time.
Among its many surprises, is you have a peer group of men who actually look out for each other.
You also have an attractive grandmother who is not the standard cookie-cutter grandmother.
These are just two of the many departures from the expected that make this anything but the one-note comedy that the commercials make it seem like.
The 40 year-old is cut from the same cloth as Steve Martin's early masterpiece, the Jerk, and as someone in his thirties, it's refreshing to see a funny movie, where the main character is not a 20-something.
Plus, the soundtrack is a surprising combination of some of the forgotten treasures of pop and broadway.
Perhaps, the best of all, it's nice to be reminded that everyone is running on their own schedule in life.
Buy The 40-Year-Old Virgin Unrated (Blu ray + DVD + Digital Copy) (2005) Now
My first viewing of "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" was late in its theatrical run. By then it had been banished to the smallest theater in the multiplex, so me and (I assume) the only other middle-aged virgin in town were its sole audience. I wish I'd seen it sooner, because it's now one of my all-time favorite comedies.Forty-year-old Andy Stitzer lives a comfortably regimented singleton life similar to the main character from "About a Boy," except chaste, uncool, and with no internal monologue. He works in the service department of Smart Tech, a Circuit City-like electronics store. One day, a couple of coworkers ask him to be the fifth man at a poker party. He accepts, but during the game is outed as a virgin. The rest of the movie revolves around his friends' outrageous attempts to get him hooked up, along with Andy's determined efforts to overcome his fear of women and woo Trish, an attractive customer who owns an online auction store across the street.
This could easily have been another lowbrow copulation comedy. However, it's much better than that. Steve Carell (also a co-writer) does a fine job of making Andy into a sympathetic character. Indeed, I easily identified with his motivations and actions: the bad experiences that led him to forsake dating, his escape into fantasy, and even the mundane activities he uses to fill his solitary life. Andy's friends are also intriguing because they represent flawed approaches to women. David (Paul Rudd) is obsessed with a gal who dumped him years ago, Cal (Seth Rogan) objectifies females, and the serial cheater Jay (Romany Malco) can't commit to his longsuffering girlfriend.
The movie has been lengthened in this DVD edition by 17 minutes with additional and extended scenes. As for DVD extras, this edition is packed with a decent assortment. Deleted scenes like Andy's public karaoke debut added depth to the characters. A series of outtakes include the usual blown lines, gaffes, and laughing fits. The lively commentary contains interesting bits of trivia on the filmmaking process. However, it was a bit too crowded for my taste (just about everybody shows up), and Seth Rogan has a tendency to dominate the proceedings. Unfortunately, Catherine Keener is a glaring absence. Her portrayal of Trish is excellent, and I really wanted to hear her perspective. Finally, the other featurettes, such as the waxing scene "making-of" bit, are stock, but passable.
Although it's somewhat raunchy, as a Christian I have to commend "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" for a single crucial thing: it's the only mainstream movie I know of that makes chastity until marriage look like a grand idea. That alone is enough to recommend it (even if my pastor disagrees). But the humor, story, characters, and performances are also worth the watch especially if someday, like me, you hope to sing "Age of Aquarius" on your honeymoon.
Read Best Reviews of The 40-Year-Old Virgin Unrated (Blu ray + DVD + Digital Copy) (2005) Here
Raucous humor, outrageous interpersonal situations, potty mouth, and over the top jokes have long been the successful turf of countless summer movies aimed at the teen crowd, films such as the endless American Pie series, Dumb and Dumberer, There's Something About Mary, etc. Now there is a new trend aimed at the thirty to forty something audiences that mimics the earlier teen subjects. THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN falls into this category along with WEDDING CRASHERS et al, but there is a difference with this one: empathy.The story is slight: an uptight, loner, action heroes collecting, non-driving bicycle-riding punctual worker in a boring firm is now forty years old and is still a virgin a fact that bothers him deeply but his virginity has developed into a phobia for close encounters of the female kind. His work partners discover his secret over poker and pledge to resolve the problem by getting him laid, in some of the most negative possible of suggestions. After endless trials to resolve his sexual vacuum he meets a forty something grandmother and in a mutually agreed pact they decide to date without sex for 20 dates before they allow physical activity to occur. In the process the friends at work (including the seductive female manager) learn a thing or two about their own life styles and the film ends in a bizarre musical number that pushes it over the top while tapping at the heart.
Steve Carell co-wrote the script (with Director Judd Apatow) and it shows. His 'Andy' may be a nerd but his adaptation to his problematic existence is sweet and charismatic. Likewise, his office entourage (Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, Romany Jay, Jane Lynch) gives us three-dimensional characters each of which shows some personal growth of their own during their experiments for Andy. The real glow of the film is due to the presence of Catherine Keener as the 'grandmother' for whom Andy falls. Whenever she is on the screen lights flash and reality sets in. The real problem for this viewer is that the slapstick portion of the film simply goes on too long. Apatow needs to rethink comedy in a way that reminds him that brevity is better: two hours is way too long for this very short story. Though it has redeeming graces, this is a film for a audience tolerant of the silly and the gross who is willing to wade through the first three-fourths of the film to catch the quietly tender social comment the film contains. Grady Harp, January 06
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The story's not too complicated. Steve Carell plays Andy, a nice, but shy and geeky guy who in 40 years hasn't managed to have sex with a woman. The guys he works with at the electronics store find out and make it their mission to get him laid. They give him bad advice and yet he still manages to have a few close calls but all he gets is embarrassed, scared and thrown up on. All on his own, Andy manages to start dating a woman who he really likes, but she wants to take it slow, so no sex at first and besides, he can't figure out how to tell her he's a virgin.This was a funny movie. It's crude humor, but what would you expect from a movie called The 40 Year Old Virgin. What pushes it a cut above say a teen trying-to-get-laid movie is the relationship between Carell and Catherine Keener as they actually fall in love. Carell's Andy has his geeky tendencies but is also very human in his emotions and the way he deals with life. Paul Rudd was very funny as a salesman at the store who is still pining for a lost girlfriend 2 years later. His deterioration as the movie progresses was hilarious.
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