Image courtesy of www.impawards.com
Director :
Judd Apatow
Cast :
Steve Carell……….Andy Stitzer
Catherine Keener……….Trish
Paul Rudd……….David
Romany Malco……….Jay
Seth Rogen……….Cal
Elizabeth Banks……….Beth
Steve Carell has been on the fast track to being the next big comedian for what seems like the longest time. After he nearly upstaged the funniest comedian currently working in Will Ferrell in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Carell has parlayed that success into a critically acclaimed role on the American version of the BBC comedy The Office. Now Carell has his shot at being a solo success, out from the shadow of other comedians, in his own vehicle The 40-Year-Old Virgin.
Carell stars as Andy Stitzer, an electronics store employee unlucky in love over the years. His attempts at love, or even lust, haven’t ended as well as he would have wanted, as at age 40 he’s still a virgin. Now this isn’t a big deal to Andy, the usual nice guy who has given up on all things involving romantic love or sexual gratification. It’s not a big deal to him; love isn’t in the cards for him. He’s accepted that and adjusts his life accordingly. It’s a sad truth to him, at least until his friends find out.
David (Paul Rudd), Jay (Romany Malco), and Cal (Seth Rogen) find out his little secret and make it their mission to have Andy learn of the carnal arts. They all have different ways of trying to help Andy in his quest as David gives Andy some adult materials and encourages him in the ways of love. Jay is a gigolo who tries to teach Andy how to be a ruthless sex hound, and David has his own manner of trying to teach Andy the ins and outs of dating.
After suitable humiliation on Andy’s part, two suitable candidates come around: Beth (Elizabeth Banks) and Trish (Catherine Keener). Trish is the owner of a local shop, and is the type Andy should be going after as she is thoughtful, intelligent and settled down. Beth is the one who would be ideal for losing his virginity to. Andy’s burgeoning relationship with Trish is interrupted by his insecurities about himself; sealing this deal, which he seems to be almost forced into, has two different contexts. He wants to know the touch of a woman but he wants it on his terms, not everyone else’s. And that’s what is the heart of The 40-Year-Old Virgin is a man’s attempts at moving out of his own shell and his comfort zone and into being a more complete person. It’s also filled with lots of insanely funny and tasteless humor, making it all the better. Credit Judd Apatow for not focusing on the sex jokes and focusing on his characters.
And in the middle of it all is Carell, center stage in the movie that The Wedding Crashers should’ve been. There are plenty of tasteless jokes, obscenities, homophobic commentary and the sort of humor that panders to the lowest common denominator, but at the same time the humor is secondary to the quality story being told. The jokes aren’t the sum of the movie, they just add to it. The story revolves around the characters and not the tasteless things that happen, which is refreshing from a genre that has had more than its share of feces jokes in the past several years.
But what’s most remarkable is the virgin himself. Carell’s performance as the loveable dweeb is rather remarkable; Andy’s affliction isn’t something that defines him or his character, it’s just part of what he is. The character doesn’t revolve around being a virgin; he’s just a nice guy who’s been unlucky and has given up on finding that sort of satisfaction with a woman. His character also changes throughout the movie, as the closer he gets to being a fully rounded person (and outside of being a guy who feels obligated to be alone) he becomes a fuller, better person in his job and to the world around him.
He grows and evolves in a way that suits the character; as he moves from being the guy he feels he should be to the guy we want him to be, it’s a gradual transformation that takes a lot of acting presence. Credit Carell for having the sort of range that can take this entire sort of nuanced character development, buoyed on all sides with all sorts of crass sex jokes that could take away a lot from the story and be able to fashion a vivid character out of it all.
