FanUnity B(uzz)log

With a title like “The 40 Year Old Virgin”, you know going in that you are about to see a comedy that at least has a strong premise. When you find out that Steve Carrell is the star, you know the casting couldn’t be better. With those two pieces in place, the setup is in place for a very enjoyable, stupid comedy.

The strange thing is, “The 40 Year Old Virgin” isn’t really that stupid. Around all of the sex gags, dork jokes and ridiculous situations a pretty nice little story develops, poignant but not preachy moral and all. Sure, the storyline is very predictable, but in a comedy like this it is more important that you don’t see the jokes coming than whether or not you see where the plot itself is going.

Carrell does a great job as Andy, and he makes a damn believable 40 year old virgin. Andy’s obsessed with collectables (including an Aquaman doll), comic-books and video games. Taken alone, that isn’t too abnormal but then toss in the fact that he’s a complete tight-ass who dresses like he’s 12, is extremely shy and rides a bicycle to his electronics store job since he can’t drive, and the idea that he can’t get laid becomes pretty feasable. Carrell highlights this well with some dorky mannerisms and hang-ups that reflect a bunch of guys I know who had a hard time finding a girl to get down with before the age of 22.

Carrell’s backed by a fun supporting cast. He’s got a group of work buddies (played by Carrell’s “Anchorman” co-star Paul Rudd, Romany Malco and Seth Rogan) who take him under their wing once they find out that he’s a virgin and try to help him score. These guys are funny, but ultimately it becomes pretty clear that they are a bunch of losers scrapping the bottom of the barrel themselves (but in a somewhat charming way). Catherine Keener does very nicely as Andy’s “true love” interest, while Elizabeth Banks, Leslie Mann and Jane Lynch are funny as sex-crazy ladies who try to temp Andy into losing his flower in a dirty, skanky way before the ultimate consumation of true love.

Ultimately even Andy’s lovable loser buddies see the light of how Andy’s meaningful relationship with Catherine Keener’s character is more valuable than the life of skanks and sluts that they have been trying to lead him into. Misguided though they are, by pushing him out of his shell, the buddies do install enough confidence in Andy to help him to lose his virginity in his own way. At the end of the day, “The 40-Year Old Virgin” is a sweet love and coming-of-age story with a lot of fun gags and jokes along the way. Definately worth seeing, but not quite on the level of this summer’s best comedy, “Wedding Crashers.”

4/5 Stars.