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The 40 Year Old Virgin 4.5 / 5.0 Viewed August 29, 2005. Reviewed September 5, 2005. In ten words or less: Frighteningly funny. There but for the grace of God... I have to admit that I didn't see the entire film. I spent at least ten minutes laughing so hard that I couldn't focus on what was happening on screen. Yes, it was that funny. Probably the funniest movie I've seen since Office Space. After seeing the previews to this movie, I thought it would be the 2005 version of "Porkys". I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the characters in The 40 Year Old Virgin were far more complex than the characters you normally find in movies from this genre. The main character in the movie is Andy (Steve Carell), who has managed to live the first 40 years of his life without losing his virginity. When pressed to explain how such a thing could happen, Andy simply notes that "it hasn't happened yet." Many people will find such a plotline hard to imagine. I'm not one of those people :-). When Andy's coworkers learn of his "problem", they make it their mission to help Andy lose his virginity. As we follow Andy's adventures, we see that his friends are no better off than he is. They have plenty of sex, but they get roughly the same amount of satisfaction from their relationships as he gets from his lack of relationships. The story develops along fairly predictable lines. Andy meets a variety of women, including some who are wrong for him and one who is right for him. Eventually he meets himself. He learns what he has to offer, what he wants, and what he doesn't want. Think of this as a coming of age story, with the coming of age happening two and a half decades later than the normal coming of age story. Several critics have noted what they call the gratuitous use of profanity and vulgar subject matter. I think these critics are pussies. People in the real world swear. Guys use profanity while talking about sex during a poker game. There are scenes involving vomit or urination, but I found these scenes so disturbing that they were absolutely hillarious. If this movie tried to take off enough edge to earn a PG-13 rating instead of its R rating, it wouldn't have had nearly the impact that it did. My complaint about this movie is fairly generic one: Why must EVERY movie include a (car/bike) chase scene? The car/bike chase scenes in this movie add nothing, and could easily have been replaced by something more interesting. Gentlemen: Take your lady to this movie, but don't laugh too hard. You probably aren't supposed to enjoy this movie as much as you will. Ladies: Take your man to see this movie, but don't bother telling him how much he acts like [pick a character]. Favorite quotes (possibly spoilers):
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