The 40 Year-Old Virgin

The 40 Year-Old Virgin was definitely a funny movie, if not a bit overlong, with great characters and a surprisingly good story. I was expecting it to be a cheesy SNL-type of movie, but it was unexpectedly mature and clever.

Andy Stitzer (Steve Carell) is a somewhat stereotypical nerd who never quite outgrew the hobbies of his youth. Obviously, as we can tell from the title of the movie, Andy is also still a virgin and has long ago abandoned any attempts to change this fact. He rides his bike to work at a “Circuit City” type store, quietly goes about his job, and comes home to a house filled with action figures, video and computer games, and all other sorts of clichéd interests relegated to the dorkier side of life. His coworkers invite him to play poker with them one night, although not without some degree of trepidation, as they all believe that while Andy is certainly a nice guy, he gives off that socially awkward serial killer vibe as well. They quickly learn that he is not so much a serial killer, but in fact a harmless virgin whose peculiar anti-social demeanor is caused from lack of sex. Obviously. Needless to say, his three newfound friends take it upon themselves to get Andy laid, much to his nervous reluctance.

This movie features a great supporting cast of Andy’s friends, who each smother him with their own dating advice, unique to their particular love life issues. David (Paul Rudd) pines endlessly for his ex-girlfriend, and gives Andy his old porn collection so that he can “learn a thing or two.” Cal (Seth Rogan) is easy-going and attempts to help Andy by giving him advice on how to flirt with women, telling him to ask questions and be kind of a dick. Jay (Romany Malco), meanwhile, has a steady girlfriend but can’t keep himself from straying, so all of his advice centers on how to snag a one-night stand. He insists that Andy “slay the hoodrats first” before pursuing Trish (Catherine Keener), a beautiful single mother whom Andy really likes. Each of these characters provided a sort of brotherly kinship for Andy and a great amount of humor for the audience. There were several one-liners and interactions between them that made me laugh quite a bit during the movie, and I always looked forward most to their scenes.

There were of course the inevitable scenes that were, at least in my opinion, a little cheesy and also completely unnecessary. This movie was clever enough and funny enough that it really didn’t need them, in particular the waxing scene. Maybe I’ve just seen the hair-waxing too many times in movies lately, but I don’t know why anyone would be shocked that forcefully ripping out hair all at once is going hurt. Apparently people are still surprised by it, however, as it continues to be featured in movie after movie. Aside from that, the movie relies on scenes that delve more into Andy’s dorky personality, such as when he practices pick-up lines while grakking (i.e. carefully painting little Warhammer Quest figurines with intricate detail).

This movie is definitely worth the price of admission. Steve Carell portrays Andy perfectly and doesn’t allow his character to shoulder the entire burden of comedy in the movie. The situations in which Andy finds himself are almost always hilarious, and the advice and encouragement from the supporting characters are constantly entertaining. I definitely recommend The 40 Year-Old Virgin.