Carell goes all the way to make you laugh.

Rating: 8/10 (6 September 2008)

I popped my 'Judd Apatow cherry' with Knocked Up, and the experience was less than satisfying: rather awkward, painful at times, and not something I was in a hurry to repeat. However, with The 40 Year Old Virgin, I really got in the mood, and by the time the end credits were rolling (just after the entire cast had performed their excellent rendition of The Age of Aquarius), I was completely spent, having shared two hours of my life in the company of a film that really knew what it was doing!
The plot sees Steve Carell's likable nerd Andy Stitzer coerced by his work buddies into admitting that he has reached the grand old age of 40 without having sex. On discovering that Andy is still a virgin, they vow to help the poor guy get laid. It's a simple premise that delivers plenty of vulgarity, nudity, and childish humour (all of which I am in favour of), but at the same time allows you to care for its characters, even managing to throw in a bit of genuine romance and drama for good measure.
Carell is great as the geek who has to grow a pair and confront his fears in order to find happiness, whilst the supporting cast who play his pals (Paul Rudd, Romany Malco and Seth Rogen) are all excellent in their respective roles. For me, however, Catherine Keener was particularly outstanding as the love interest, looking very hot for a 46 year old.
At nearly two hours, the film is perhaps a little overlong and some judicious trimming could have improved the flow somewhat, but, on the whole, The 40 Year Old virgin is a very funny film and recommended to all open-minded viewers looking for a laugh (unless you happen to be a 40 year old virgin yourself, in which case you'll probably spend the whole movie cringing whilst pretending to laugh at the jokes. If that's the case, avoid it completely or watch it alonewhich I guess you probably would do anyway...).