Excellent romantic comedy

Rating: 8/10 (13 December 2005)

VIRGIN tells the tale of an aging and lonely electronics store wage slave who is good at collecting things but has difficulty relating to people, especially women. His store pals, who seem to have materialized out of an old MARRIED WITH CHILDREN episode, decide to do something about his condition and take him in hand, literally and figuratively. The first half of the movie is a raunchy, American PIE-type comedy. The second half, about the guy's romancing of a middle-aged divorcée complete with kids, is a sweet take on adult relationships. The ending, a very funny sendup of the movie HAIR, completes the no-longer lonely guy's journey in a truly bizarre manner. Steve Carrell, a character actor last seen in ANCHORMAN, is the aging virgin and plays the role as if he were channeling Ben Stiller in MEET THE PARENTS. Several other ANCHORMAN performers are on hand for the fun and merriment, most notably Paul Rudd as Carrell's lovelorn best buddy. That DEATH TO SMOOCHY gal, Catherine Keener, plays Carrell's love interest. Highly recommended, but only if you're an adult. This could easily have been an NC-17, and the extended and deleted scenes on the DVD prove it.