"I hope you have a big trunk... because I'm puttin' my bike in it. " - Andy Stitzer's pick-up line

Rating: 7/10 (9 September 2005)

The new Steve Carrell (actually the first Steve Carrell) film, 'The 40 Year Old Virgin' was a movie I didn't have very high hopes for. Seeing the movie trailer for it both in the theater and on television, it didn't seem like it would be that funny. I liked the premise, but none of the scenes they showed during the commercials seemed to win me over. When I finally got around to seeing at, after hearing extremely positive buzz, all my reservations about it were put to rest. 'The 40 Year-Old Virgin' wasn't just a funny film, it was an absolutely hysterical one.
The movie centers around a guy who has the be the largest geek in the world. He is Andy Stitzer (Steve Carrell), a forty-year old living in a small crummy apartment who works at an electronics store and whose hobbies include watching 'Survivor' with his elderly neighbor and collecting action figures. One day the guys Andy works with -- David (Paul Rudd), Jay (Romany Malco), and Cal (Seth Rogen), invite Andy to a poker game to get to know him and find out he is still a virgin! The three make a pact that they will do everything in their power to try to get Andy laid. The movie from there is all about these three guys trying to get Andy to sleep with different s including a drunk, a psychopath, a and a tom-boy named Gina (a bit-part played hilariously by MADTV's Mo Collins). While all of this madness is going on, Andy falls in love with a divorcée who owns a 'Sell it on Ebay' shop played by Catherine Keener (Being John Malkovich, Full Frontal).
When all is said and done, 'The 40 Year Old Virgin' will have you laughing hysterically through it's entire runtime. Steve Carrell proves himself to maybe be the next Will Ferrell with his performance as the weird loner Andy Stitzer, a performance that is pure comedic genius. Seth Rogen is constantly witty, Romany Malco never ceases to be hilarious, Paul Rudd is solid, and Catherine Keener is perfectly cast as Andy Stitzer's soul mate. The writing is very good for the most part (except for a kind of disappointing first five minutes, in which surprisingly I didn't laugh at all.) All in all, 'The 40 Year Old Virigin' is a good comedy, but nothing Oscar-worthy. It's raunchy, crazy and drop-dead hilarious, but not quite as much as 'Wedding Crashers'. If you are looking for a silly flick, that isn't great but will have you laughing until you either wet yourself or fall out of your chair, spend the time and money seeing 'The 40 Year Old Virgin'. Grade: B (screened at AMC Deer Valley 30, Phoenix, Arizona, 8/19/05)
my ratings guide - A+ (absolutley flawless); A (a masterpiece, near-perfect); A- (excellent); B+ (great); B (very good); B- (good); C+ (a mixed bag); C (average); C- (disappointing); D+ (bad); D (very bad); D- (absolutley horrendous); F (not one redeeming quality in this hunk of Hollywood feces).