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Overall Rating
  Awesome: 54.42%
Worth A Look: 30.61%
Average: 4.76%
Pretty Bad: 2.72%
Total Crap: 7.48%
12 reviews, 75 user ratings
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| 40-Year-Old Virgin, The |
by William Goss
"Broken Flowers"

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Steve Carell moves up from scene-stealing supporting actor to certifiable comic master as the lovelorn lead in 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin,' a comedy with its heart in the right place, even if everything else isn’t exactly where it should be.While playing poker and swapping sex stories with colleagues, it soon becomes apparent that middle-aged Andy Stitzer (Carell) has never done the dirty deed. His three friends instantly make it their mission to get his cherry popped.
Most resembling Steve Martin’s performance in The Jerk, Carell’s work in Virgin is destined to propel him into the mainstream, and rightfully so. For years, Carell has lingered on the peripheral with his deadpan delivery on "The Daily Show" to his delightfully naïve work on NBC’s "The Office" and last year’s Anchorman, on which he worked with Virgin director Judd Apatow and co-star Paul Rudd. In this film, he fine-tunes the proper mix of humor and heart that makes his character so appealing.
As great as he is alone, Carell is backed by a surprisingly solid supporting cast. Rudd, Romany Malco, and Apatow regular Seth Rogen play the trio of buddies who vow to end Andy’s celibacy. Their advice lead to several amusing situations, including a speed-dating session, a driving drunk of a date, and a graphic chest waxing session that wouldn’t be half as funny if Carell hadn’t actually done it himself, blood and all.
Andy finally finds a sane soulmate in Trish (Catherine Keener), who hooks up with him only to propose a no-sex policy on their relationship. The Andy/Trish arc is where the movie finds its tenderness. Thankfully, the laughs don’t slow down for the sake of a sense of human emotion (I’m talking to you, Wedding Crashers). However, like Crashers, nearly two hours is a bit long for a comedy, and Virgin is no exception. While it doesn’t suffer from one noticeable drag, the film feels padded overall and meanders on its way to the finish line.Audiences were lucky to have two terrific R-rated comedies this summer that knocked it out of the park, especially considering that, for every 'Wedding Crashers,' there is a 'Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo.' If only for Steve Carell, 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin' is a hilarious chance to see a deserving star get some. Attention, that is.
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link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=12748&reviewer=409 originally posted: 10/25/05 15:17:00
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USA 19-Aug-2005 (R) DVD: 22-May-2007
UK N/A
Australia 06-Oct-2005
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