The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005) **1/2

Rating: 7/10 (28 August 2006)

Not a great film, but a sincere and pretty funny one as we follow the trials of a good natured middle-aged geek named Andy (played by Steve Carell) who has yet to have sex with a woman. He's an introverted loner living by himself whose idea of an exciting weekend is making egg salad and painting his toy models. His buddies at the local electronics shop where they all work are a fun group of typical horny male characters, each around ten years younger than Andy, who try everything possible to break their inexperienced friend in, setting him up with women and passing on some of their own personal strategies for dealing with the opposite sex.
Much to this film's credit, it isn't afraid to go over the line with occasional non-PC jokes and ideas in a day and age where everyone is so ultra-sensitive to everything. The cheap toilet humor and sex gags actually work very well amidst all this, aided greatly by a charming performance by Carell in the lead part, who actually makes his character of Andy very likable and almost even manages to make virginity seem cool. It was also refreshing to see an older and more down-to-earth love interest as portrayed by Catherine Keener for a change, instead of the usual "Beverly Hills 90210" bimbos we're bombarded with all the time.
The audience I saw this with in the theater loved every minute and were in hysterics, adding to the fun. I've never seen my wife laugh so hard either; she howled so much, she was coughing and lost her breath! It's become a favorite film of hers and she's bought the "Unrated" DVD. We watched the extended version with 17 added minutes at home again recently and I recall it being a little better in its shorter theatrical version. But maybe that's just me. Oh, and one minor reminder -- not all of us guys who enjoy monster films and collecting movie memorabilia are clueless nerds who've never made love to a woman. **1/2 out of ****