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The 40 Year Old Virgin
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In The 40 Year Old Virgin, Steve Carell
manages to break through where Will Ferrell has stalled.
Both are known for their association with a madcap, absurdist comedy that
is so obsessed with pop culture irony that it rarely involves the viewer
in a conventionally emotional way – especially over the long haul of an entire
feature film.
There
is plenty in this movie to remind us of a film that starred both Carell and Ferrell, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004). There are the
relentless jokes about trashy television shows of the 1970s, over-the-hill pop performers and
lifestyle fads (such as speed dating). There are
kitschy flashbacks and elaborate musical interludes. And there
is a lot of mugging and colourful swearing from Andy (Carell) and his
work pals at Smart Tech, David (Paul Rudd), Jay (Romany Malco) and Cal (Seth Rogen).
But
Andy has a special problem: at the age of 40, he is still a virgin. Worse still, even as
his friends contrive every possible way for him to have meaningless, dirty
sex, Andy falls for a “hot grandmother”, Trish (Catherine Keener), and decides
they should pursue a sex-free relationship.
Few
films of the trash comedy variety have so skillfully juggled riotous scenes devoted to supposedly
kinky goings-on with a sweet, touching love story. Carell is wonderful to watch as
he modulates from Jerry Lewis-style grotesqueness to shy-guy pathos –
often in the space of a single scene. And director/co-writer Judd Apatow has
surrounded him with some expert character actors, including Kat Dennings as
Marla, Trish’s grumpy teenage daughter.
There
is much to savour in The 40 Year Old
Virgin, as in Superstar (1999) or Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004).
The cultural references are, for a
change, deliciously specific (such as the advice to Andy to behave “like
David Caruso in Jade”); the narrative set-ups and pay-offs are
pleasing; and the finale, set to “The Age of Aquarius”, will send you out
smiling.
© Adrian Martin October 2005 |
