Overrated

Rating: 6/10 (11 February 2006)

Although it's quite a novelty to see the character of Andy, the virgin who's 40 years old, depicted as a nice and likable guy this movie is fairly one-dimensional all the way. In the instances that a male virgin is the subject they're usually weird and repulsive in some way, so Andy's character comes as refreshingly original. In some ways he's peculiar; his collection of toys and posters etc. but the film doesn't go overboard in that area. I can imagine that this rite of passage can seem like a mountain to climb if delayed too long, and in Andy's case it might just seem like an impossible task. Relatively late bloomers (say; just over 20) are nervous but how on earth would it be if you're 40.
The film has some hilarious moments when focusing on Andy and his ever mounting fear of his impending task. The "boner" scenes sure do bring back memories. It's when his friends occupy a lot of screen time that the film isn't as interesting. Andy's friends are all complete stereotypes, straight out of American Pie it seems.
Subtle messages, such as; "it's really O.K. to wait for the perfect one" are present but not really hammered on, this film more or less shows you that you truly can't be happy unless you "do it". In our sex driven modern atmosphere this movie simply reinforces our believe that sex is the most important thing you will ever encounter.
I had high expectations for this film and on the whole was pretty disappointed. There's nothing that justifies over 2 hours running time, the film drags in the end; some pruning would have helped a lot. Still, it has it's moments and a wonderful comic performance by Steve Carrell.