When moviegoers were last visited by Steve Carell on the big screen, he was awkwardly blurting inappropriate one liners as the mentally challenged Brick Tamland in Will Ferrell’s “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.” After his critically acclaimed role in TV’s “The Office” and a few more sideliner roles alongside Ferrell and Jim Carrey, Carell transcends himself in his first spotlight feature film, “The 40 Year Old Virgin.” The premise is simple. Forty year old Andy Stitzer is a virgin. When word of this reaches the ears of his fellow co-workers, Andy becomes the laughing stock of his small, yet gossip greedy electronics store. His fellow sex crazy friends, Dave, Jay and Cal, promise to help the lost soul accomplish what he never though was possible, but not without making fun of him along the way. “Virgin” wins the Best Comedy for Summer ’05 award by far. Although Stitzer does not crash any weddings (he does quite the opposite, playing with his 1980 vintage toy collectibles on a daily basis), Carell makes Andy loveable, kind and hilarious all at the same time. And what’s a great comedy without its sidekicks? Paul Rudd, also from “Anchorman,” and Seth Rogan, from TV cult favorites “Undeclared” and “Freaks and Geeks,” ease Carell’s Andy into learning the ways of the woman. With a great combination of characters and actors, “The 40 Year Old Virgin” proved to be extremely entertaining. Many lines in the movie were even lost due to uproarious laughter coming from the audience. Written by Judd Apatow with help of Carell, “Virgin” brings a new type of comedy to the theatres. Instead of repeating jokes and stories of raunchy past films, “Virgin” takes a different type of protagonist than we usually see in this type of movie and does so with a unique approach. Apatow, also of “Freaks and Geeks” fame, gets it. The film puts Andy in all sorts of ridiculous and absurd situations, including a possible one night stand with a drunk girl he meets at the bar who insists on driving him back to her place. And this is just the beginning. Apatow sets it up and Carell knocks it down. After many of these special encounters, Andy finally meets a girl he likes, the “We Sell Your Stuff On Ebay” shop owner, Trish. After telling his friends about her, they insist he must sleep with as many girls as possible before courting Trish in order to get the practice and experience. The cycle begins again. And what is not to love about an actor who will literally go the distance for his role? In the commercial scene in which Andy waxes his chest and screams “AhhhhhKellyClarkson!” Carell was right there with him. According to “Entertainment Weekly,” the actor told the director before shooting: “It has to be real. It won’t be as funny if it’s mocked up or if it’s special effect. You have to see that this is really happening.” After five excruciating rips from the wax, Carell must have been dying, but his audience was dying from laughter. “Virgin” was successful for many reasons. The writing, directing, acting and story telling were all on key to deliver one hell of a comedy. Apatow proves that he can write something that does not flop while Carell shows he can handle bigger, better and funnier roles. If Hollywood was smart, they would tip their hats to the talented Carell. And also keep their eyes on him.
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