Steve Carell is The 40 Year-Old Virgin
To make matters even worse, his co-workers, soon to be friends, have recently discovered that instead of being a serial killer, Andy Stitzer is a virgin at 26, wait, 40.
The 40 Year-Old Virgin Review
In The
40 Year-Old Virgin we meet Andy Stitzer played by the
lovable Steve Carell. Having found huge success in a supporting role for
comedies such as Anchorman, Carell has now been given the final
test to star in his own film-- The 40 Year-Old Virgin. With Judd
Apatow at the helm, this R-rated comedy does have its moments of laughter
but also reminds us of why buddy-comedies do so well; ala Wedding
Crashers.
The premise to The 40 Year-Old Virgin is simple-- it is time to
get Andy Stitzer off the 'V' boat with the help of his new friends from
work. These friends include David [Paul Rudd], Jay [Romany Malco] and Cal
[Seth Rogen], who are all desperately trying to get Andy laid. Though Andy
does learn a few tricks of the trade from these guys, it is Trish [Catherine
Keener] who captures virginity gold. Owning a shop right across from where
Andy works, she becomes the head of his aspirations and another reason why
he simply can't get 'laid.'
Steve Carell and Elizabeth Banks
Judd Apatow allows The 40 Year-Old Virgin to have such a build-up
that, by the end of the film, most gentlemen in the theatre can probably
complain of blue balls. The film also ends with an orgasmic explosion of
song and dance, which is light hearted and amusing. However, the number
one problem about the film is the fact that Steve Carell is the sole beacon
of character and comedy. Sure, we have his friends who contain every guy
stereotype in the book, but they only add into the humor, with all focus
placed on Carell.
It is easy to get tired of Andy Stitzer and the I'm-a-virgin humor; the
two largest elements to the film. What Judd Apatow needed to do was create
another comedic character to play directly along side Carell, to give him
something to play off of. The reason Wedding Crashers worked is
that we had two different comedic personalities [Vince
Vaughn and Owen
Wilson] join on and play off one another. Steve Carell had
nobody to do this with, making him seem very alone. Add the fact that Andy
Stitzer is not some one you'd want to hang with all the time and now you
found the problem.
Though Wedding Crashers is still the best comedy of the summer,
The 40 Year-Old Virgin is deserving of a theatre visit for those
who have just been craving an R-rated film similar to American Pie.
However, I thought American Pie was better too.
Score:  
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