day 60 - The 40 Year Old Virgin

OK film fans, I'm getting a late start tonight so I won't be able to hit up a new film like I was hoping. But we still have a few days before the Oscars so we'll nail down the last of the big nominees this week. For tonight, like any night when your're a little tired and just need a good laugh, I'm revisiting a comedy that always makes me laugh when I watch it.

The 40 Year Old Virgin only came out a few years ago but has already become a classic. After years of work in TV as a writer/producer/director Judd Apatow finally got an opportunity to helm a major motion picture. Comedy over the last five years has been irreversibly changed based off of the success of this film and Apatow has been at the epicenter of a major comedy movement. Prior to this film he was a Producer on Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, since this film he's been a writer/producer/director on a ridiculously impressive list of comedies that include Knocked Up, Superbad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Pineapple Express. And then there's the list of comedic actors that he's helped reach the top by consistently casting them in his films. This list is just as impressive, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel (both discovered from his stint on the amazing Freaks and Geeks, if you get the chance add this to your netflix queue, you won't be disappointed), Jonah Hill, Paul Rudd and so on. Just check the links, you'll get the drift.

For his first film, which he co-wrote with Steve Carell, we get the story of Andy Stitzer (Carell), a grown man, whose horrific initial attempts into manhood led to his arrival at 40 without losing his virginity. To compensate for his uh, shortcomings, he's become an obsessive collector of action figures, video games and high-tech equipment. Not coincidentally, he works at an electronics superstore. He is able to fool his co-workers about his sexual status until a guy's night poker game reveals his secret. At this point, like most guys would naturally do, they begin to provide him with tips to picking up girls. Of course each of them has issue of their own. David (Paul Rudd) is still pining over a girl who broke up with him 2 years prior; Jay is the self-appointed ladies man with commitment issues and Cal (Seth Rogen) is a diehard partier with such sage advice as "date drunks".

While the guys take him on a journey of one spectacularly bad idea after another (happy hours, chest waxing and speed dating) Andy has experiences of varying success with several women. Nicki (Apatow's wife Leslie Mann) provides a quick lesson in taking advantage of a drunk girl; Paula offers the time revered practice of fuck buddies despite the fact she's his boss, Beth (Elizabeth Banks) responds positively to his advances but is a woman far beyond Andy's experience level; and finally there's Trish (Catherine Keener showing off her range), a single mother who coaxes Andy into an adult relationship.

As evident in this film, Apatow's real gift is bringing realism to comedies. Many of his films are based on the comedy inherent in everyday life, from male bonding to pregnancy. This film in particular deals with the guys' advice and his burgeoning relationship with Trish in the same realistic manner. We get to know his co-workers and like them as a group of guys looking out for a friend while also believing Trish is a woman who sees Andy not as a challenge but as an opportunity. Each scene finds the comedy in the moment, it never feels contrived or forced and despite running a tad long at just under 2 hours, it moves along effortlessly. In the end it's a fun 2 hours, filled with tons of laugh out loud moments and a reminder to be both true to yourself and honest about what you need to make you happy.