40 Days and 40 Nights

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40 Days and 40 Nights
Movie poster of 40 Days and 40 Nights
Directed by	Michael Lehmann
Produced by	Tim Bevan Eric Fellner Michael London
Written by	Rob Perez
Starring	Josh Hartnett Shannyn Sossamon
Distributed by	Miramax Films (USA) Alliance Atlantis (Canada) Universal Pictures (non-USA/Canada)
Release date(s)	1 March 2002
Running time	96 min
Language	English
Budget	$17,000,000 USD (est.)
IMDb profile

40 Days and 40 Nights is a comedy film that was directed by Michael Lehmann and written by Rob Perez in 2002. The film depicts the life of Matt Sullivan, played by Josh Hartnett, who swears off sex for forty days.

Tagline: One man is about to do the unthinkable. No sex. Whatsoever. For... 40 Days and 40 Nights.

1 Plot
2 Criticism
3 Cast
4 External links

[edit] Plot

Matt is heartbroken over his ex-girlfriend, who is recently engaged. One-night stands and empty passion don't fill his broken heart after the breakup. He then comes up with a plan to stop any sexual activity for Lent — for 40 days and 40 nights. His friends and co-workers are betting against him, and he meets a woman to whom he is attracted, Erica (Shannyn Sossamon), at a laundromat which further builds up his frustration and the chaos that surrounds his idea. In the meantime, he manages well in the first few days of celibacy, but as the further days which follow, he is tempted further and further to violate his vow both naturally and artificially (by his friends and co-workers). In order to combat his urges, he builds models, takes walks, focuses entirely on his work and everything else he knows to take his mind off of sex.

In one scene, while enjoying an intimate situation with Erica, he is able to make her achieve orgasm by caressing her with an orchid. Actually engaging in intercourse at this time would have violated his vow.

[edit] Criticism

The film portrays the male protagonist being forced into nonconsensual intercourse with his spiteful ex-girlfriend. This depiction of rape involves no negative consequences to the rapist, but rather makes the victim appear to be the one at fault.
The Catholic League claimed the film parodied Lent in a vulgar way. The League is also known for protesting other Miramax films such as the 1994 film Priest and Dogma in 1999. Dogma was later released by Lions Gate Films.
A rarely noted fact about Lent which the film failed to mention was that while Lent encompasses only forty days, they are not consecutive. This is because Sundays, being inherent days of celebration in Catholicism, are not technically part of Lent. Interestingly for the plot of the film, this also means that one is exempt from their Lenten fasting and obligations on Sundays during the season.