The 40-Year-Old Virgin 2005
I had heard good things about this one even though I’ve only seen Steve Carell as Produce Pete on the Daily Show (I think he used to do more) and I watched one episode of The Office where he didn’t seem that funny. He is good at playing the kind of stressed out geeky misfit that he plays in this movie, but he’s so genuinely odd-looking and weird that you don’t warm up to him. In this movie he has more of a chance to extend his range and I’m not sure if you get used to him or if he makes enough changes that he becomes more likable. Maybe a combination.
Both Ebert and Roeper described this movie as “cute” as if it were You’ve Got Mail. Well, it’s not that. It is a crude R-rated movie about guys trying to get another guy laid. And it is filled with bad language, talk about sex, sex, masturbation, and more bad language. We see Carell urinating in *three* different scenes. Still, the movie does work and it has some very funny parts. The supporting cast are all good and it seemed that they were allowed to improvise every now and then with some good results.
It’s probably on par with There’s Something About Mary, but with a better story and cast. I gave Mary a B-, so this one probably deserves a B.
Owned on: Digital