Frank

Steve Carell has become a movie star in leading man roles by playing characters who possess the exact opposite characteristics of what most people consider the leading man or movie star persona. The romantic comedy, The 40 Year Old Virgin, is the finest example to date of his patented socially inept leading man character.

Carell, who co-wrote and co-produced the film, plays Andy Stitzer, the title character. Andy is an unaware, modern day Lonely Guy who collects action figures, reads comic books, plays video games, and rides a bicycle because he doesn't own a car. After a few romantic, but traumatic excursions when younger, he gives up trying to lose his virginity. When his coworkers learn of his situation, they befriend him, vowing to cure him of his affliction. His friends, played by Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen and Romany Malco of the Showtime sitcom "Weeds", give him a crash course on women and help him briefly embrace his bachelorhood before realizing his true desire to settle down with Trish (Catherine Keener).

Even though his character in this film embodies the quirkiness and awkwardness of Carell's character on NBC's sitcom "The Office", the characters are different. Andy Stitzer is a more approachable character than his TV counterpart, Michael Scott.

The similarities between the two paradigms exist in more than just the two of Carell's characters. Both The 40 Year Old Virgin and "The Office" have Carell surrounded by a great supporting cast which allows Carell to achieve something different with each story.

The supporting cast in The 40 Year Old Virgin allow Carell to be more approachable because they play characters that are practically as dysfunctional as his character. This makes Andy seem less pathetic than Michael Scott and more like a traditional film hero.

All of the characters curse unnecessarily and unapologetically, which aids in their awkwardness. That combined with quite a bit of sexual content amounted in an R rating for the film.

A reappearing theme throughout the movie is the sexual frustration of Andy, which at times is painful and offensive to watch although the fact that this movie has a sincerely funny scene right around the corner from the painful ones makes it well worth watching.

A unique aspect of this movie is how the resolution is crammed in after the climax. This works well thematically because within the resolution is the scene where Andy loses his virginity which amounts to a climax that takes about a minute. The subsequent and immediate sex, however, took substantially longer and was followed by an hilarious and truly memorable song and dance ending to the movie.