I don’t know about you, but when I first heard the title of the film “The 40 Year Old Virgin” I knew that I didn’t want to see it in about quarter of a second. It just shouts “cliche” in every word and then some more. I immediately knew that it would be a romantic comedy about a somewhat old loser that never got laid. And that his truth will come out and some guys will act upon it and will try to get him laid. And by the end of the movie he will fall in love and yada yada yada. The only minor question was if they would use a guy or a girl for the main character, and all those cliche shouts were suggesting that it would be a guy. That was later confirmed by the poster.
So why did I change my mind and went to see it? Well, just out of curiousity I checked the film’s rating at IMDB and was surprised to find a whole 7.5! I mean I know there are a lot of kids, losers, people who never got laid, and those three types combined into one, but I could never imagine that there were more than 10,000 of those using IMDB.
Directed by: Judd Apatow
Genres: Comedy, Romance
Cast: Steve Carell, Catherine Keener, Paul Rudd, Romany Malco, Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Leslie Mann, Jane Lynch, Gerry Bednob, Shelley Malil, Kat Dennings, Jordy Masterson, Chelsea Smith, Jonah Hill, Erica Vittina Phillips
IMDB raintg: 7.5
My rating: 6.5 [rate 6.5]
Setting the title to “The 40 Year Old Virgin” was a really bold move. I mean just by that title filmmakers would easily draw people away from this feature.
The only way to make up to that was to make a really funny comedy. I mean there should have been plenty of jokes. A constant flow, if you will. And of good ones, because everyone has seen about a thousand movies on the subject with all the bad and cliche jokes already.
As bold as the title was, the film stood up to the expectations. It was really funny. At some places I was laughing out loud for more than 20 seconds. Maybe I just was in a right mindset for the film. Or maybe it was actually funny. But whichever way it was, all the people in the cinema were laughing hard. Together. Especially on those two scenes – one with waxing a hairy chest and another with the ritual watching of porn. Ok, the “How do I know that you are gay?” part was pretty good too. It reminded me of the college years somehow.
Anyway, I do recommend to watch this film. At least once you won’t be losing your time. Especially considering the quality of comedies that were release by Hollywood in recent years.
Oh, and one other thing. That guy who plays the main character – Steve Carell – he really looks and acts like Ben Stiller, but without the stupidity and needless exagпerations of Ben Stiller. And he acts. Not bad at all, if you ask me.
If you have your doubts, than wait for the DVD. There is nothing in the film that requires a huge screen.