The 40 Year-Old Virgin (Unrated)

Universal | 133 minutes | 2005 | Unrated | Directed by: Judd Apatow |
Standard DVD reviewed by: Matt Brighton

Is it sad or funny that I found more than a few parallels between Steve Carell’s character and myself? Ok, don’t answer that. In all honesty, we don’t have that much in common, moreover his “main” problem in the movie. But he’s an individual and set in his ways, too. “The 40 Year-Old Virgin” is just that, a movie about a man who has tried, and failed, to have intercourse with a woman. The movie is a comedy, but I’m sure there are a lot of men (and women) who can relate to the concept. The movie was written by Carell and actor/writer Judd Apatow who have conglomerated on several other projects together. I’ll be honest, this “Unrated” version had me laughing but I can see where the audience might be a bit limited. The humor is sophomoric (another reason I liked it, I suppose), the gags are physical and the plot a bit predictable. There’s something very genuine about Carell’s performance that makes it that much more believable.

Carrell plays Andy Stitzer, a salesman at a local “Circuit City” type of store and whose only friends are his co-workers. Now don’t feel sorry for Andy, he’s a perfectly nice guy who’s perfectly happy doing what he’s been doing. In a late-night poker game it comes out that Andy has never had sex and his friends are out to change that. They try speed dating, the bar scene and even prostitution to help Andy accomplish his goal but with varying degrees of success. As fate would have it, Andy meets Trish (Catherine Keener) who works across the street (I’ll sell your stuff on eBay) and the two start to date. After a failed first attempt at sex, the two decide to wait it out and “do the deed” on their twentieth date, leaving plenty of breathing room for Andy to get prepared. All the while Andy’s buddies are trying to get him prepared for sex by any and every mean possible.

“The 40 Year-Old Virgin” hits a few chords here and there and managed to make me laugh out loud on more than one occasion. This “Unrated” version contains about 17 more minutes than the theatrical version and since I never saw the movie in theaters, I don’t know what’s been added – though I have a few guesses. Amidst the pratfalls of a regular comedy, this movie succeeds were others have failed. Steve Carell may not be a Brat Pitt or Tom Cruise, but he delivers a sincere and underrated performance that was just what the movie called for. The supporting cast of the movie is what makes it work with plenty of eye candy for the men out there and proof that it's not always looks that women look for in a guy. In conclusion, I’d have to say this is a movie worth seeing though I’m a bit puzzled by the closing sequence. I’ll have to check out Milos Foreman’s “Hair” again to see if I can catch the reference(s). Recommended.

“The 40 Year-Old Virgin” is shown in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, which looks pretty good on DVD. I did receive a test disc and noticed two very noticeable artifacting errors and I’m assuming this is because it was a test disc. When my new “final” copy shows up, I’ll amend this section of the review. That aside, the movie has a very glossy look and feel to it – everything is very well-lit giving it a sort of “sheen”. It’s hard to describe, but colors are very vibrant – I couldn’t really find anything too wrong with the way this was presented on DVD. The movie is also available in a Full-Frame format if you feel the need to cheat yourself out of some of the movie.

A standard Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is used here and with pretty good effectiveness. Granted that movies like this aren’t made for sound nor will they ever be. The soundtrack is fairly decent, robust at times. I found dialogue to be warm and natural as well. Truth be told, there’s not a lot to say here…the surrounds offer a bit of ambiance when needed, but for the most part this is a dialogue-driven comedy with only a bit of physical humor (the drunk girl driving the car is about the only instance in which I can think of “great” sound) added in.

In addition to the 17 minutes of footage added into the movie, there are some supplements on the disc as well. The main supplement is the commentary track with Carell, Director Judd Apatow and the cast. There is a lot of chuckling here, mainly all of the guys laughing at themselves, but there’s a lot of information to be gleamed from this as well. Little things about the movie and the screenwriting process which make the track nearly as funny as the movie itself. Also included are some deleted scenes with optional commentary by Apatow and some extended versions of scenes already in the movie. “Line-O-Rama” is a sequence of scenes in which different lines are used in an existing scene (that appeared in the movie). You have to see it to understand what it is, but it got a chuckle or two out of me. There were four cameras that filmed the infamous “Chest Waxing Scene” and we get to see it from every point of view. “My Dinner with Stormy” shows Actor/Producer Seth Gogan (Cal) as he meets with Stormy Daniels, an adult film star, telling her about her role in the film. “The 40-Year Old Virgin” was a pretty good movie that had a lot of juvenile humor, yet it kept me entertained. The DVD has enough features to warrant a purchase and at the very least a rental.