Funny
thing about this one. I know it had some buzz or whatever but when I
bought it I had no idea about any of it. When I bought it I only had a
vague idea of who Judd Apatow was, he's practically a genre now. Back
then I saw this movie on the shelf and it made me chuckle because I
actually happened to know a 40 year old virgin at the time. He used to
come into the gym where I worked. He was odd, very sweet but stood a
little too close to you when he talked and held eye contact for longer
than was comfortable. He started dating a young woman. She was 24 and
had a kid and was... well she was bit loose and she terrified him.
Seriously he would have whispered conversations about how scared of her
she was. I don't really know what happened there, I always wonder if he
did ever lose his virginity. But I digress. I bought the film because I
was in the mood for a comedy. I noticed it had that guy from the
American version of The Office,
it had Conrad from Weeds,
it had Paul Rudd, who to me will always be Josh from Clueless
 |
| Oh, you the fodder of my 13 year old dreams |
and
it had Seth Rogen who had a lot of love left over from me for Freaks
and Geeks. They all did. James Franco is quite quickly burning through
his though.
 |
| Just keep counting your paycheck. Don't even try. |
Yeah
so I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I didn't expect to like it
as much as I did. I found it very funny and surprisingly touching. It's
been a little while since I've seen it though. Here's what I remember:
'Steve
Carell (can't remember his characters name) is a quiet unassuming nerd
who works in an electronic store. A bunch of the sales guys including
Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen and Conrad from Weeds are having a poker game and
one of their usual members dropped out. They notice Steve and ask him if
he would like to join the game despite him being a bit a quiet fellow
who keeps to himself.
Steve,
desperate for friends, agrees. At the poker game the talk turns to the
raunchier side and the guys start discussing conquests. Steve, having
never done any conquering, makes some shit up. This immediately exposes
him as a virgin. The guys it take upon themselves to get Steve laid.
They take him to a nightclub where he ends up in a car with a drunk
woman who scares the pants off of him, and pukes on him. So he doesn't
sleep with her. They get him a prostitute who turns out to be a
transvestite which has some unfortunate implications for Conrad.
 |
| The Mona Lisa of transvestites |
Then they take him speed dating where he meets a series of slightly odd women.
By
chance a nice lovely older lady comes into the electronics store. She
and Steve get along really well and she gives him her number. He is too
afraid to call. Some other stuff happens, there's a funny scene with a
skanky Elizabeth Banks, where he keeps repeating what she's saying and
it apparently works as a flirting technique.
However
Steve really likes the woman he met at the store and starts dating her,
he meets her kids who he manages to win over. But he's still really
scared of sex. Throughout all of these encounters Steve is encouraged to
grow up and change his life. Actually getting promoted at work and
getting rid of his man child flat full of toys. There's a thing with a
box of porn and a bit where Paul Rudd puts a video camera down his
trousers.
Steve finally has sex and all ends with a wedding. I think.'
After a rewatch:
So,
Steve Carell's character is named Andy. His love interest is named
Trish. The movie does not differ much from what I described. There are a
lot of non plot related scenes that I had forgotten about, but a lot of
it is not worth recapping. The movie is fairly narrative free and there
seems to be a lot of improvisation between the characters. To be honest
I could have done with less bickering between the Smart tech employees.
It wasn't that funny.
Also Jonah Hill how you've changed:
 | ||
| Would you? |
 |
| Would I?... Nope, still wouldn't. |
The various adventures and attempts to get Andy laid actually end up helping all of the Smart tech guys to grow up a little and invest in some adult relationships.
Trish
and Andy's relationship is interesting because despite the fact that
Trish has three kids, in her own way she's just as childish as Andy. In
different ways neither of them really got to get past adolescence. Andy
because he was incapable of having a relationship and Trish because she
had children and got married really young.
Trish and Andy manage to get past their relationship misunderstandings, which to be honest that's all it was. The conflict came from Andy being to afraid to admit to Trish that he had never had sex. They get married and consummate the marriage. Happy days.
 |
| Awwww... |
Yeah and then this happens.
It's..
amusing? I don't know what it is. I don't hate it and I guess it fits
with the sort of free wheeling make it up as you go along feel of the
film. But still. What?
This film rested on the shoulders of its leading man. The virgin needed to be believable
and sympathetic and Steve Carell made Andy very lovable and managed to
carry the whole film so well. I think he needs to be given a lot of
credit for this, I watched the semi follow up 'Knocked Up' and I loathed
that film (it's not part of my DVD collection) and I think I hated it because
Seth Rogen is not a great leading man, he's great as the sarky BFF or
the goofy sidekick. But in that film he came off as mean and childish
and I have a feeling they were going for the same lovable man-child
thing they had here. Here because of Steve Carell it worked. There it didn't.
