From the title you'd think The 40 Year-Old Virgin is a movie about sex, and yes that's certainly a part of it. But at its core, Virgin is really about friendship. The friendship between Andy and the other guys at SmartTech is the heart of this film, but when it starts out Andy Stitzer (Steve Carell) is a loner. He's not a loser really, he's simply living a quiet, lonely life. He fills his time with hobbies like videogames and action figure collection and why not, he has nothing better to do. He's alone, but he's not miserable. Not exactly. But in a way it's only because he doesn't know what he's missing.
One day, Andy's life changes. The guys at the electronics store where works, who have long suspected he's a serial killer, invite him to their poker game. They do it more out of pity than anything, but during the game they all start to click. Andy, David (Paul Rudd), Cal (Seth Rogen), and Jay (Romany Malco) couldn't possibly be more different, but somehow in their differences they manage to bond over just being guys. As things often do when guys get away from women, the poker table talk turns to sex, and the guys discover that Andy is, inexplicably, still a virgin.
David, Cal, and Jay make it their mission to remedy Andy's situation. It's their sympathy with his plight that makes the movie work. The film, and Andy's friends, could have made fun of him, or looked down at him. But director Judd Apatow never lets the movie go there. It's obvious that he cares desperately about this character, and Andy's journey to awaken the hope that long ago died inside him is every bit as smart and sensitive as it is outrageously funny and raunch. Oh boy, is it raunchy.
Even when it's being as R-rated as it can be though, Virgin managed to stay classy. It's quite a trick really, when you've got characters standing around talking donkey sex and dirty sanchez. But the conversations are so grounded in reality, as the sort of crazy conversations we've probably all had with our friends when our girlfriends aren't around, that the movie works beautifully. It's a comedy (and a ridiculously funny one) yes, but The 40 Year-Old Virgin is so much more than that. This is an incredibly special film.
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The 40 Year-Old Virgin - DVD Review
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