The 40 Year Old Virgin Review

        When looking at the poster to The 40-Year-Old Virgin, you would think it would be a really lousy comedy. Sort of in the vein of any sub-par Adam Sandler movie from the early 2000s. Surprisingly, this one put Steve Carrell in the map. It was both this film and The Office that really cemented him in the annals of comedy. To wrap up my look into romance films, here’s what I think about this one. 

1. Andy the Virgin

        Just the first opening sequence perfectly describes the predicament that Andy is in. Just the amount of collectibles that cover and dominate the whole apartment is impeccable. We see that he’s not a normal guy since he rides a bike to work and hardly interacts with his coworkers. The turning point is revealed when he’s invited to play poker and inadvertently reveals that he’s a virgin. 

        Steve Carrell absolutely steals the show as Andy. Just his overall mannerisms and any attempt to be cool by imitating the other guys is laughable. It’s tough to even review comedies since it’s entirely subjective to the person that’s watching it. Here, any high brow person without a funny bone can see or at least appreciates the comedy that represents the whole situation. And the fact that it’s an R-Rated movie takes its complete comedic antics to 11.

        One of the things that makes the film so well, is just how Andy goes about losing his own virginity. I’ll elaborate more on the next tab but what also sells the comedy is the chemistry among Andy’s coworkers. When you have Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen and Romany Malco just talking with Andy is hilarious and stupid. Just the attempts to have him go through various means to highlight himself and finding love is all for nothing.

        Even though the film can be viewed through a depressing lens since we do see why Andy is so hesitant up to the point where we see his younger self. Any movie that has the character be active with what he wants to do, instead of just be a passive character for the story sake is probably the most important aspect of this film. Just the fact that we see him go for the girl that he’s genuinely attracted to is also sweet. 

        The moments when we see Andy and Trish together is wholesome since we see just how vulnerable Andy is and eventually the situation that Trish is in as well. It shows just the disparity between being a virgin and a single mom. Both are ridiculed but the main thorn is a guy not losing his virginity. Which leads me to my next tab. 

2. Types of Love

        I think the highlight of the movie is when the guys show Andy how to meet a girl to have his virginity be removed. Hilarious in the various ways Andy is subjected to the level of firsthand embarrassment, mostly all of them represent the guys and how love is shown in the movie. With the chemistry dynamics that the three guys have, all of them have a distinct view of love. 

        One is adventurous, the other is insecure with his relationship that he cheats with other girls and Paul Rudd’s character can’t seem to move on from his ex. It shows just how different they view a relationship or love in general. When Andy is with one or all them, we see how Andy tries their methods and have it blow up in his face. Especially when he’s told to wax his body, that’s my favorite part. I think the main point of the film was revealed after Andy’s predicament was made public to the store.

        The whole film is about the connection that leads to the actual event in question. We see just how backwards the guys view love and having their own relationship problems reflect their odd view into romance. With Andy, he simply followed his gut and did it his own way to go after Trish. Just him winning Trish’s daughters with his charm and earnestness made him redeemable to them. 

3. Overall

        The 40-Year-Old Virgin is on top of the comedic films of the 2000s that defined a decade.