The 40 Year Old Virgin

Goaded by his buddies, a nerdy guy whose never "done the deed" only finds the urge getting stronger when he meets a single mother.

AMG Plot: One man nervously ventures forth into the final frontier in this comedy starring Daily Show regular Steve Carell. Andy Stitzer (Carell) is a cheerfully geeky guy who is settling into middle age with his large collection of comic books, action figures, and collectable models. Andy works in the billing department of a big-box electronics store, and seems reasonably happy with his life. However, one day his friends and co-workers David (Paul Rudd), Jay (Romany Malco), and Cal (Seth Rogen) discover that Andy has a secret — due to his rather severe jitters around women, Andy is still a virgin. Andy's pals are appalled at this state of affairs, and set out to find a woman who'd be willing to get horizontal with him. After a number of disastrous dates, everyone thinks Andy has finally struck gold when he meets Trish (Catherine Keener), an attractive single mother who takes an immediate liking to him. What the other guys don't know is that Trish has just gotten out of a bad relationship, and has informed Andy she isn't ready to be intimate with him just yet. The 40-Year-Old Virgin was the first feature film directed by Judd Apatow, who previously served as a writer and producer for the well-regarded television shows Freaks and Geeks, Undeclared, and The Larry Sanders Show. — Mark Deming

AMG Review: Judd Apatow's directorial debut, The 40-Year-Old Virgin accomplishes something very rare for a comedy, it is a very funny, bawdy sex comedy that transcends the genre because of the three-dimensional characters and the subtle acting. Steve Carell created his character while part of Chicago's Second City troupe, and like all of the best sketches they produce, the laughs come more from the human behavior of the characters than in the situation itself. Carell's pitch-perfect performance is matched by Catherine Keener who creates a warm, appealing, intelligent woman who would believably fall for Carell's character. All the supporting players (Paul Rudd, Seth Rogan, Jane Lynch, and the rest) are given fully realized characters to play, making the outrageous behavior even funnier because the audience can relate to the people even if the actions seem outlandish. The screenplay is both full of big laugh lines and works as a perfectly structured romantic comedy. In lesser hands, this would have become a one-note comedy, but The 40-Year-Old Virgin is a comedy symphony. — Perry Seibert