I get why people might love it--but funny isn't always that funny. Oy.

Rating: 5/10 (15 June 2010)

The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)
Director Judd Apatow has his finger on the stupid side of American culture and can make you really laugh about it. But at the same time, you might groan and wish you could escape. I know I did. It's a taste thing, partly (each to their own) and an age thing, too. The humor really is aimed at people in their 20s (or younger), working out relationships (and sex) in an adolescent, bathroom humor way. Getting drunk is cool, and having sex is pure sport, at best.
Of course, the main character, Andy (Steve Carell), doesn't do either one, which is part of the humor. The plot has a long arc, taking us from the realization (from the title) that Andy is forty and still a virgin, to a bunch of guys (very male guys) trying to get him to have sex in various ways, to Andy finding a real relationship (this is laid out in the very beginning, too). There are no real surprises here. Even the connection between Andy's toy collection and ebay is visible after a few scenes.
What makes (or breaks) the movie is the series of funny situations and jokes (clever, stupid, and gross in turns). Different people laugh at different jokes, and a few are going to be funny for almost anyone, if you last that long. It's a smart film, for sure, just with dumbed down jokes. Carell is terrific, and a sympathetic character, and the actors around him are convincingly post-pubescent men, good actors all around. This might be enough if the humor is your speed. And Catherine Keener is really natural, a joy on the screen, and an obvious contrast to the goofy antics of the rest (all the rest, men and women both).
As a "movie"--which for me is partly about how it sucks you in and makes you feel things, how it is shown visually, how it is interwoven from front to back, how it leaves you feeling the next day--it's very very routine. Apatow comes out of television sit-coms and this feels like an overblown and expensive sit-com. Which means it's slick and funny, but not too slick and not too funny. Depending.