Don't judge by the label

Rating: 9/10 (20 December 2005)

This movie is just so good at what it does. It is streets above the likes of 'American Pie' or 'Road Trip' which, whilst very entertaining, have the boardroom touch all over them in their calculated, controlled (commercial) approach to 'gross-out' and nudity. 40-Year Old Virgin, on the other hand, seems to have grown unchecked from the rich material of a guys night out. This is boys talking like boys - and little-known actors having an absolute ball. The aim is not to shock the audience for the sake of it, but merely to give an honest account of male preoccupations. Neither is the tone cruel; you never feel that people here are scornful of the central character, but that they genuinely want to help a repressed and overlooked man discover his potential. This film, perhaps above any other, show that potty talk, machismo and alcohol can be the greatest means through which to communicate real affection between mankind (as opposed to womankind). Conservative America probably wouldn't be able to spot it, but this film is warmer than a thousand and more 'family' films... oh and it's damn funny too.