They say that a tragedy is when something bad happens to you. On the other hand, a comedy is when something bad happens to someone else. Thus would seem to be the premise for The 40-Year Old Virgin, a film with a surprisingly efficient yet slightly misleading title.
Virgin’s topic is Andy, a 40 year old electronics store clerk who has never done the deed. Shy and sweet, he sits alone in an apartment filled with an action figure collection so geeky it includes the Six-Million Dollar Man’s boss. When trading sex stories with his buddies one night, everyone is shocked to learn they have a virgin in their midst. Andy matter-of-factly explains that he came close in his youth, but simply stopped trying; having sex wasn’t his Holy Grail of existence. Nonetheless, Andy’s friends make it their pet project to get him laid.
Much of the film’s strength lies in that it is not a mean-spirited tirade against people like Andy, but a sometimes too sweet comedy about sex and virginity. Unlike the dreadful Wedding Crashers, the writers of The 40 Year-Old Virgin actually bothered to write a script, creating unique and often hilarious characters. Steve Carell avoids playing Andy as a horrifically crippled nerd, instead making him a nice guy who’s nice nature has automatically cut him off from most women. The three friends initially seem like stereotypical jerks, but their roles are well written enough that they all function well within the plot. Paul Rudd plays David, the guy we have all seen before, obsessed with a relationship that ended a long time ago. Seth Rogen’s Cal swaggers about as if he has been laid a billion times and suggests dating drunks, while Romany Malco ‘s Jay has been laid a billion times, much to the chagrin of his wife. In short, Andy is by far the most stable and happy of his friends, blasting away the notion that sex is key to a fulfilling existence.
Unfortunately, the film throws away this effective message when Andy meets Trish(Catherine Keener), a single-mom who runs an Ebay store. Andy and her magically get along wonderfully, and even though he has another botched attempt at sex, the two agree to wait through 20 dates before sealing the deal. At the film’s end, the two are married, and have sex that is accompanied by a disastrously unfunny musical number.
Was it really necessary for the two of them to have sex? Certainly sex is one of those life experiences we all want, but the first half of the film was really on to something; sex does not make anyone happy, and you can live a fine life without it. By letting Andy score in the end, that message is replaced with one of the American Pie mentality, in which sex is the ultimate goal, without which you are not complete as a person. The characters benefit from the film’s overly saccharine nature; all of their flaws are pointed out but none of them are really taken to task for their mistakes. The 40 Year-Old Virgin is a nice film, but wouldn’t a nicer film have stuck to the message that sex isn’t everything? Wouldn’t a smarter film have shown that real life sexual obstacles are not so easily overcome? Yes, on both accounts.
2.5 out of 5
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