A 30 year old's perspective on "40"

Being that Lost is on repeats until sweeps, I felt like it would actually be able to leave the house on a Wednesday night. So, I went down to the Somerville Theater to go seeThe 40 Year Old Virign.

Quick note on the Somerville Theater: It's actually a music venue. But they show movies in the basement. They have four small theaters down there. And they're second run films, so they're cheaper than a regular theater. Pretty cool set-up. Anyway, when I got there, I had to wade throught the throng of Joan Baez fans outside. Nothing funnier than seeing a bunch of middle aged plus people trying to buy scalped tickets to a sold-out show.

Anyway, The 40 Year Old Virign. Seemed like an appropriate choice seeing how as, at 30, while I wasn't paying attention, I appeared to have found my viriginity again. I was originally going to wait for the DVD to see this, but after hearing from my mom that she liked it, I really had to see it. In fact, my train of thought was pretty much exactly like this: "My mom liked a raunchy sex comedy? This I have to see!"

The film was decent, had it's share of laughs, but...

Always a but.

It felt very much like....I don't know...a pale imitiation of a comedy. I haven't been able to figure exactly why I got this vibe, but here's my thought on it. It had to do with the tone. I know the co-writer/director, Judd Apatow, from two things: the producer of Anchorman (which is hilarious), and the creator of Freaks and Geeks, which was just a great, if short lived TV show. He also created Undeclared, whis is also supposed to be excellent, and is currently sitting in my Netflix queue.

(Side note: I never thought I'd use the word queue, ever. With Netflix that has changed.)

Let me do my comparison in terms of Freaks and Geeks, because I think it's actually fitting. It was a great, great show. Funny, yet poignant. But it's humor came with a lot of heart, and was very much in the: "Oh, my god, that's so embarassing, but that so happened to me when I was that age, I just have to laugh," variety. It was grounded in real life, and in experiences most everyone could relate to.

And I get the feeling that in the original script of The 40 Year Old Virigin, this was also the case. I see hints and glimmers of it, and it's very much an underlying current int he film. OK, not so much the "I'm 40 years old and a virign" aspect, but more the concern and worry and pressure and build-up that surrounds sex, especially your first time. There is a heart to this film, and that is it.

However, and this is just speculation, it seems like it got Hollywood-ized. I can picture a faceless studio exec reading the script and saying, "OK, this is great! We love it! Don't change a thing! Except....could you maybe throw in a vulgar old Indian man. he'll basically just swear and be vulgar! People love wacky, pointless characters! And a transvestie hooker! We need a scene with a transvestite hooker! And this character, he seems too sensitive. Can you make him bitter as well? Sensitive and bitter. Oh, and the black guy, he doesn't seem "black" enough. Can he be more blacker?"

Well, you get the picture. There was a problem with tone. It just felt too wildly inconsistent throughout. It's not so much to jar you out of enjoying the film, but, at least to me, it was noticeable. The strange Age of Aquarius musical number at the end? I think that was more a product of Apatow and Steve Carell.

The acting was decent, but at the same time, I don't know if it was because of the tone or if perhaps none of the main characters felt like true "comic" actors, no one (excpet for one, which I'll get to briefly) really stood out. Carell, by all accounts is great in the american version of the Office, but I ahven't seen it. And I don't know if he could ever top Brick Tamland, which is gold, Jerry! Gold! But if you could put any actor up there and make me believe he's actually 40 and a virgin, it's him. So I guess that's something. Paul Rudd was all over the place, but that again could be because of the writing; his character was all over the place. Seth Rogen, an Apatow alum fro Freaks and Geeks, basically played an updated version of the same characater he played on the show. Not a lot of range there. Romany Malco, who I don't know from anything, didn't seem like he was given much to work with, except to "be more blacker." The standout for me was Catherine Keener. I loved her in Being John Malkovich and I loved her in this. She brought a real joy and spark to the role, making a character who realistically had to be at least 40 (inferred by the fact that she had a 1 year old granddaughter; she couldn't really have been much younger in the film) seem 15-20 years younger. And she was awesomely hot, and isn't that what's important.

Behind all the humor and gags, The 40 Year Old Virgin does have a lot to say about sex, the pressures therof, and society's pre-occupation with it And at it's core, the 40 year Old Virgin is a film where the geek gets the girl, where even the losers get lucky sometime. And that's a kind of heart and hope that it's good to leave the theater with.