Just When You Think Hollywood's Completely Forgotten What A Funny Script Looks Like...

Rating: 8/10 (27 August 2005)

THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN (4 outta 5 stars) A movie with this concept would be so easy to turn into a piece of utter crap a la "Deuce Bigelow". It's so rare to find a movie that can actually balance big laughs with honest character development. Steve Carell does a great job portraying Andy, a character quite unlike the loud, obnoxious types that he's best known for. Again, it would be very easy for actor to screw things up by overdoing the stereotype... but Carell does a nice balancing act... playing nerdy without making it too creepy. Catherine Keener has a great role, too... as the single mother of three who begins a relationship with Andy... not knowing the dreaded secret that has only recently come to the attention of his (messed up in their own way) co-workers. Written by Carell and director Judd Apatow (known for TV's "Freaks and Geeks")... maybe this will start a new trend of comedy movies with ACTUAL SCRIPTS?