The 40-Year-Old Virgin

The 40-Year-Old Virgin

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Judd Apatow
Produced by
Written by
Starring
Music by Lyle Workman
Cinematography Jack Green
Edited by Brent White
Production
company
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release dates
  • August 11, 2005 (2005-08-11) (Los Angeles premiere)
  • August 19, 2005 (2005-08-19) (United States)
Running time
 116 minutes
133 minutes (unrated version)
Country United States
Language English
Budget $26 million[1]
Box office $177.4 million[1]

The 40-Year-Old Virgin is a 2005 American comedy film written, produced and directed by Judd Apatow, about a middle-aged man's journey to finally have sex. It was co-written by its star, Steve Carell, though it features a great deal of improvised dialogue.[2] The film was released theatrically in North America on August 19, 2005 and was released on region 1 DVD on December 13, 2005.[3] It is the directorial debut of Judd Apatow, who would go on to direct such successful films as Knocked Up, Funny People, This is 40, and Trainwreck [4] and Seth Rogen's first comedy film, since playing a cameo in the 2004 film Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.

Plot

Andy Stitzer (Steve Carell) is a 40-year-old virgin who is involuntarily celibate. He lives alone, collects action figures, plays video games, and his social life seems to consist of watching Survivor with his elderly neighbors. He works in the stockroom at SmartTech, an electronics store. When a friend drops out of a poker game, Andy's co-workers David (Paul Rudd), Cal (Seth Rogen), and Jay (Romany Malco) reluctantly invite Andy. At the game, when conversation turns to past sexual exploits, the group learns that Andy is still a virgin.

The group resolves to help Andy lose his virginity. Throughout the next several days, the group's efforts prove to be unsuccessful, partly because all three men give Andy different and sometimes contradictory advice. They take him to have his chest waxed, which he gives up halfway. Cal advises Andy to simply ask questions when talking to women, which makes Andy seem mysterious. His advice proves to be the most helpful, when Beth (Elizabeth Banks), a bookstore clerk, takes a liking to Andy. Andy starts to open up, and begins to form friendships with his co-workers. After running into his ex-girlfriend Amy in a speed-dating event, David, who is still obsessed over her, has an emotional breakdown while making a sale. Store manager Paula (Jane Lynch) sends him home and promotes Andy to fill in for him.

Jay attempts to quicken the process by hiring Andy a prostitute. When Andy discovers she is a transvestite, he confronts his friends and tells them that he will manage a date with a woman on his own. Andy lands a date with Trish Piedmont (Catherine Keener), a woman he met on the sales floor. During Andy and Trish's first date, as they are about to have sex, they are interrupted by Trish's teenage daughter Marla (Kat Dennings). Andy prepares to tell Trish he is a virgin, but Trish suggests that they postpone having sex. Andy enthusiastically agrees; they decide to postpone it to the 20th date. At work, Paula is impressed by Andy's salesmanship and promotes him to floor manager.

As Andy's 20th date draws closer, his friends begin to deal with the consequences of their lifestyles. David, still spiraling in his obsession with Amy, has become disillusioned with sex and has taken a vow of celibacy. Cal, worried about him, hires Bernadette (Marika Dominczyk), an attractive woman, to fill in for Andy. Jay gets into an argument with an obnoxious customer (Kevin Hart). He confides with Andy that his girlfriend Jill learned of his infidelity and broke up with him. Andy comforts Jay, who says that sex can ruin a relationship. Jill later decides to take Jay back (she is pregnant, and her misgivings about Jay as a father figure were what had spurred the breakup).

Andy and Trish's relationship grows, and Trish suggests that Andy sell his collectible action figures, which will earn him enough money to open his own store. Later, Andy takes Marla to a sexual health clinic, where Marla reveals herself to be a virgin. The counselor (Nancy Carell) remains sympathetic, while the other patients in the clinic laugh at Marla. Andy admits that he is a virgin as well, but only gains ridicule himself. On the way back to Trish's house, Marla tells Andy that she has known he is a virgin for a while. She promises to let Andy tell this to Trish by himself.

On their 20th date, Andy is still reluctant about sex and resists Trish, upsetting her. An argument ensues, in which Andy accuses Trish of pushing him into changing his life against his will. He leaves for the nightclub where Jay is celebrating his girlfriend's pregnancy. David finally relinquishes his celibacy and hooks up with Bernadette. Andy gets drunk and, after running into Beth, goes to her apartment with her. Marla convinces Trish to go and make up with Andy. By this time Andy has sobered up and, after witnessing Beth's methods of foreplay, he starts to have second thoughts. His friends arrives and encourage Andy to go back to Trish.

They leave together (except for Cal), and Andy returns to his apartment, where he finds Trish waiting for him. He attempts to apologize, but Trish, having found various suspicious items in his apartment, is now afraid that Andy may be some sort of sexual deviant. Andy tries to convince her otherwise and declares his love for her, but she leaves in alarm and disgust. Andy chases after her on his bike, but collides with her car and flies headlong into the side of a truck. Trish rushes to him in concern, and he finally confesses to her that he is a virgin. She is surprised to learn that this is the reason behind his strange behavior, as she does not consider it to be important, and they kiss.

Later, Andy and Trish are married in a lavish ceremony with everyone in attendance, with a sidelong mention of Andy's action figures having sold for half a million dollars. Afterwards, they consummate the marriage over a period of two hours and one minute transitioning into a musical scene where the characters sing and dance to "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In".

Cast

Production

Production on the film was nearly halted by Universal Pictures after 5 days of filming due to concerns related to the initial appearance of Carell's character.[5]

The production used over a million feet of film, a milestone reached on the last day of filming and recognized with free champagne by Technicolor.[6] Using the conversion of 90 feet of film per minute, this means that the shooting ratio for the film is 96:1 for the theatrical (84:1 for the unrated version).

Reception

Critical response

The 40-Year-Old Virgin was met with positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a rating of 85%, based on 181 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The site's consensus reads, "Steve Carell's first star turn scores big with a tender treatment of its titular underdog, using raunchy but realistically funny comedy to connect with adult audiences."[7] At Metacritic, the film scored a 73 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[8] Rotten Tomatoes declared it the "Best Reviewed Comedy of 2005".[9]

Ebert and Roeper gave the film a "two thumbs up" rating. Roger Ebert said, "I was surprised by how funny, how sweet, and how wise the movie really is" and "the more you think about it, the better The 40-Year-Old Virgin gets".[10] The pair gave minor criticisms, with Ebert describing "the way she (Catherine Keener as 'Trish') empathizes with Andy" as "almost too sweet to be funny" and Richard Roeper saying that the film was too long, and at times extremely frustrating.[10] Roeper later chose the film as the tenth best of 2005.[11] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the movie an A-, saying that Carell "plays him [Andy] in the funniest and most surprising way possible: as a credible human being." Manohla Dargis of The New York Times called the film a "charmingly bent comedy", noting that Carell conveys a "sheer likability" and a "range as an actor" that was "crucial to making this film work as well as it does."[12]

The film was criticized by Harry Forbes of Catholic News Service for promoting "the false premise that there's something intrinsically wrong with an unmarried man being sexually inexperienced",[13] and by conservative columnist Cal Thomas for not being a "tribute to self-control or purity".[14]

In December 2005, the film was chosen by the American Film Institute as one of the ten best movies of the year, the only comedy film to be so recognized (though the comedy-drama The Squid and the Whale was also chosen). The film was also ranked No. 30 on Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies.

Box office

The film was a summer hit, and opened at No. 1 at the box office, grossing $21,422,815 during its opening weekend, and stayed at No. 1 the following weekend. The film grossed a total of $109,449,237 at the domestic market, and $67,929,408 overseas, for a total of $177,378,645. The film was 25th in global gross, and 19th in the United States that year.[1]

Home media

On home video the film was released with an additional 17 minutes under the banner "unrated".[15]

For the 100th Anniversary of Universal the theatrical edition was released on Blu-ray.

Disclaimer

The American Humane Association withheld its "no animals were harmed..." disclaimer due to the accidental deaths of several tropical fish used in the film.[16]

See also

References

External links

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