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The 40-Year Old Virgin

The 40-Year Old Virgin (something every father wants to say about his daughter some day) is the funniest film to be released since The Wedding Crashers, and, much like that brilliant comedy, underneath all of the bluster, silliness and guy humor beats a sweet heart. Get ready to laugh, and possibly cry.

Steve Carell stars as Andy - a 40-year old stock clerk at an electronics store who collects action figures, plays video games, rides a bike and lives a quiet, lonely life. One night, he is playing poker with his buddies David (Paul Rudd), Jay (Romany Malco), and Cal (Seth Rogan), when the discussion turns to sex, and it becomes very apparent to everyone in the room that Andy is a virgin. Even though he is embarrassed by the revelation, the guys dedicate themselves to helping their pal avoid becoming the 41-Year Old Virgin. However, Andy already has met someone special, Trish (Catherine Keener), and wants to overcome his fears, so he can ask her out.

Will Andy do the horizontal mambo? Can he win Trish's heart?

Co-written by Carell and director Judd Apatow, The 40-Year Old Virgin is hilarious. However, the brilliance in Carell's character, and the movie in general, is that he is not a loser. Yes, Andy fits every nerd stereotype, but he's a nice, decent, sweet guy. Carell shows us how Andy is socially inept, shy and had several bad experiences throughout his life, so we can start to sympathize with the virgin instead of thinking he is some sort of weirdo or outcaste who could never get a date if he wanted to. You don't mock Andy. The 40-Year Old Virgin movie is touching because you want this guy to succeed. He has become lost somewhere along the superhighway of life, and had some haunting experiences, so the guys, Trish and the audience want to pull him back onto the road.

Carell also makes Andy into more than a one note joke. We see him start to go nuts as all he can think about is sex, be overwhelmed by the pressure put upon him by his well meaning friends and co-workers, struggle with a dual role as grown man and little boy, and wrestle with pursuing Trish even though he can't face the prospect of another rejection. While Andy is the embodiment of nerdhood, Carell and Apatow make him more well-rounded, believable and likable as a character.

Before The 40-Year Old Virgin becomes some sort of life affirming tearjerker, Apatow and Carell make sure to fill the movie with many drop dead funny moments. It's still a raunchy comedy with plenty of silly and gross jokes like Andy getting his chest hair waxed off, the bookstore worker who is wilder than any man can handle (I am totally trying that ask questions thing you see in the commercials), his "special" night for himself, and our hero's attempts to woo a drunk woman who has plenty of skeletons in the closet. Also, the supporting cast is wonderful.

The other guys are very funny in their roles, especially Rudd as the guy still reeling from the loss of his girlfriend 2 years ago. He becomes the love philosopher, who can be bitter, mad or crying at any moment as he recalls the good and bad times he had with the one that got away. Meanwhile, Malco takes full advantage of being the horndog/player who always is trying to hide some bad behavior from his girlfriend, and Rogan excels as the closest thing we have to a voice of reason in The 40-Year Old Virgin. Even though all of these guys might be giving bad advice, or pushing Andy towards the wrong path, Rudd, Malco and Rogan make the audience believe they are doing it for all of the right reasons and truly care about their pal.

Be warned, the movie has lots of adult humor, which made me laugh uproariously (because I am a guy). Put The 40-Year Old Virgin down as one of the year's best comedies, and a welcome late summer release. It almost made me forget about Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo. Almost.

3 ½ Waffles (Out Of 4)

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