The 40-Year-Old Virgin



The 40-Year-Old-Virgin is a 2005 comedy film starring Steve Carell, and the first film to put director Judd Apatow on the map (after television stints with Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared). It is the story of Andy Stitzer, a 40-year-old man who, due to a series of unfortunate mishaps all throughout his youth, never experienced sexual intercourse during his formative years and has lost interest in his adulthood. One night, while playing cards with his friends from the electronics store where they all work, Andy inadvertently reveals that he's a virgin; this initially results in the expected chummy jeers, but shortly thereafter his friends, Cal, Jay, and David, decide to help him lose his virginity. Eventually, Andy meets a nice woman named Trish with whom he shares a genuine emotional connection, and though he's nervous about telling her the truth about his virginity and the subject of sex in general, he must learn to overcome his insecurities to discover both sex and romance.

Since we all know that there are no male virgins and that loners are freaks, this movie surprised many by portraying the title character, a virginal and nerdy (he collects action figures and comics) introvert, not as some kind of loser or freak but as a likeable fellow who's simply chosen not to have sex after a short series of rejections in his youth. Since it dresses in the skin of a Sex Comedy, it's also refreshing to see the subject of sex summed up as "a nice thing to have, but meaningless without love," as seen in Andy's well-meaning but dim-witted friends, who all lead active sex lives but are probably less happy than Andy because their romantic relationships are unfulfilling.

In fact, it's been observed by some female reviewers that Andy should be the one with the active sex life, not in spite of his personal habits, but because of them. For instance, while his friends are observed to be whiny losers, Andy is a handsome man who prefers an "unmanly" bicycle to get around, but it helps keep him in great shape on top of his regular exercise regime, giving a handsome exterior complementing his winning interior.

"Gina: Jy-na."
 * All Girls Want Bad Boys
 * Angrish: During the chest waxing scene, Andy quickly devolves from random screaming to swearing at everyone to Gratuitous Spanish to "Kelly Clarkson!!!"
 * As Herself: Adult film star Stormy Daniels has a cameo playing herself during a dream sequence.
 * The Blind Leading the Blind
 * Butch Lesbian: Gina from the speed-dating party.

"Trish: Oh my god! Andy! Are you okay?! Andy: There were two sides to that billboard, and they both hurt equally!"
 * Would that qualify as a Meaningful Name?
 * About the only way it could qualify more is if she's from Virginia (VA).
 * Cannot Spit It Out
 * Cold Turkeys Are Everywhere
 * Coming of Age Story
 * Cringe Comedy
 * Dance Party Ending
 * A Date with Rosie Palms - Averted; David wants to get Andy into it, but Andy just doesn't feel comfortable.
 * Drag Queen
 * Dropped a Bridget On Him: "If she was a transvestite, she was the Mona Lisa of transvestites." Averted, though, in that "she" is betrayed by (at least in the Italian dub, as far as I know) a quite deep voice.
 * "I am the party."
 * Drunk Driver
 * Dyeing for Your Art - The chest-waxing scene? Yeah, one hundred percent real. Ouch.
 * In fact, at one point they almost ripped off Steve Carrell's nipple, because they forgot the stuff that you're supposed to put on nipples to prevent them from being ripped off.
 * Four-Temperament Ensemble: Andy is choleric, Jay is sanguine, David is melancholic and Cal is phlegmatic.
 * Good People Have Good Sex - The first time lasts sixty seconds. The second time lasts two hours...
 * Grandma, What Massive Hotness You Have!: Played with, as Trish looks like a realistic young grandma. A very attractive realistic young grandma.
 * Hold Me: "Hold my hand, man." "What?" "Just-just HOLD MY HAND!!"
 * Hollywood Nerd: Interestingly, Andy has elements of both Type 1 and Type 2. On the one hand, he has many stereotypically "nerdy" and "child-like" interests and hobbies such as collecting action figures, reading comic books, and playing video games. On the other hand, he does not have an overtly nerdy manner of dress, does not wear glasses, has a ripped, muscular physique from working out a lot (and from riding a bicycle everywhere in lieu of even having a driver's license) and is played by the handsome and manly-looking Steve Carell.
 * Just Keep Driving
 * Kavorka Man - Cal
 * Let's Wait Awhile: In the end, Andy and Trish.
 * Man Child - Andy, to a degree (at least insofar as his action figure collection is concerned). His friends play this straight in every other aspect.
 * A Man Is Always Eager: Inverted. Andy passes up a handful of potential partners instead of taking up with the first one who offers. He doesn't even take the first opportunity to have sex with his girlfriend.
 * A Man Is Not a Virgin - this movie takes this trope apart at the seams and sews it back up in a cultural-commentary sort of way.
 * Nature Abhors a Virgin
 * Nerds Are Virgins - Guess what the eponymous character is.
 * Never Trust a Trailer - One would think looking at the trailer that the movie would be American Pie Turns out the actual message of the movie is nearly the opposite.
 * Nipple-and-Dimed: Averted... by the scene at the quick-dating-place. Yup, you guessed it - Wardrobe Malfunction. And something else, too.
 * Pac-Man Fever - Utterly savage example: Cal and David play a PlayStation 2 game with Nintendo 64 controllers (One of which is upside-down).
 * At least what they're playing is portrayed correctly, if anything.
 * Until the fatality, which the movie seems to think is interactive. (It isn't.)
 * While the N64 controller is inexcusable, the "upside-down" controller is actually the joystick attached to the game chair Andy has.
 * Made extra-confusing by the fact that Mortal Kombat 4 did appear on the N64, but they chose to use footage from one of the PlayStation 2 Mortal Kombat games instead.
 * Porn Stash - David's gift to Andy, in an ill-conceived and unsuccessful attempt to make him comfortable about sex.
 * "Hey buddy. Got a big box of porn for ya."
 * ... which inevitably ends up as one of the cruelest Brick Jokes ever.
 * Raging Stiffie - Andy has this a couple of times to the point where he has a hard time, uh, pointing himself towards the toilet.
 * Rousseau Was Right - Several movie critics have remarked on how the humor doesn't involve teasing or pranks, but the honest, if misguided, attempts of Andy's friends to help.
 * Sex Comedy
 * Sex as Rite-Of-Passage
 * Sex God: Andy finally breaks his duck with an as-expected three-thrust wonder. The action then cuts to some time later after his second performance and it's clear he's astonished his more experienced new wife with "natural talent".
 * Shirtless Scene
 * Speed Dating
 * Stalker with a Crush: David went a little overboard in regards to Amy.
 * Star-Making Role: For Steve Carrell.
 * Straight Man: The titular character: much of the film's humor stems from Andy's deadpan reactions to his friends' whacky attempts to get him laid.
 * Sudden Musical Ending
 * That's Gotta Hurt: During the chase scene, Steve Carrell ends up going through two billboards at the same time.


 * Two Gamers on a Couch: could this be the first film version of the Two Gamers on a Couch WebComic trope?
 * Truth in Television: despite whatever any Chick Flick tries to teach you, this movie reminds us that there are also Nerds and geeks, whose usual shyness, feelings and kindness cause them to be shamelessly and repeatedly rejected by an Alpha Bitch.
 * Virginity Makes You Stupid - Averted and played straight, along with driving the entire plot.
 * Volleying Insults - "You know how I know you're gay?"
 * You Need to Get Laid - Duh.
 * Wax On, Wax Scream
 * What Have We Ear? - How Andy attempts to impress Trish's daughter.