Life isn't about these rusty trombones, and these dirty sanchez

"The 40-Year-Old Virgin" DVD Review



I don't really have all that much to say about this flick. I liked it. It's very entertaining. And unlike most US comedies of late, it's got a lot of heart at it's core. I'd put it up there with American Pie and The Girl Next Door. But it wasn't all that. And I can't quite put my finger on why it isn't all that. Maybe because it has been all that to sooo many other people. I came to this film very late. And there was a lot of hype from both critics, online geeks and friends who raaaved about it.

I don't think I laughed once at the first half hour. And then the laughs came slowly but surely, but never really more than a titter (pardon the pun). Maybe I wasn't in the mood. Maybe I don't have a sense of humour. And maybe I thought the movie cut a little too close to the ol' bone for me as I gaze across at my Spider-Man and The Incredibles action figures.

The chest waxing scene is by now legend (and it was done for real!) but there are other real zingers as well, including the on-going 'You know how I know that you're gay' between Cal and David, the Michael McDonald DVD, the condom sequence, Oscar Goldman and the Lionel Richie 'Hello' scene.

I think most of the success of this movie boils down to first time feature director Judd Apatow and star Steve Carell (who together wrote the script). Apatow's background is in television on great shows like "The Larry Sanders Show" and "The Ben Stiller Show", unseen shows (by me) such as "The Critic", "Freaks & Geeks" and "Undeclared" (the last two of which Apatow was show-runner). He's also done recent movie scripts such as Fun With Dick And Jane and the upcoming Knocked Up.

I'm normally one to complain about the wall-to-wall rock/pop song soundtracks of today, but these guys at least had the decency to license great songs. I mean, 'Just Got Lucky' by Joe Boxers and 'Heat Of The Moment' by Asia? Hands up how many people remember those songs?

When someone asked me who's in the movie, I had real trouble answering the question. There's no major stars in the cast (would Catherine Keener be the closest?). Steve Carell's most prominent role would be the US version of "The Office" and he now has 6 movie projects on the go (including, wait for it, Get Smart. Yessss). Paul Rudd and Jane Lynch are probably the next most well known, he from Clueless as Alivia Silverstone's stepbrother and she from the last couple of Christopher Guest flicks. The cast is overall fantastic and there are a lot of upcoming actors: Romany Malco (who plays the cheating Jay), Seth Rogen (as the butch novelist Cal) and Elizabeth Banks (Beth, and who plays Betty Brant in all three Spider-Man movies). I must also mention Catherine Keener, who is a bit of an god to me and in more than one way.

The DVD is kind of odd and for the most part seems thrown together (cue the deluxe edition for Christmas). A whole series of strange titles (such as Date-a-palooza and Andy's Fantasies) reveal themselves to be almost all deleted scenes (which are kinda funny). Oh and most of these have optional Apatow commentary on them. There's also the obligatory gag reel, plus a couple of very brief behind the scenes into the waxing scene and a strange bit with the porn actress. The feature commentary is considered to be the highlight of the extras package but as of now, remains unpreviewed.