| The 40-Year-Old Virgin | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Judd Apatow |
| Written by |
|
| Produced by |
|
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Jack N. Green |
| Edited by | Brent White |
| Music by | Lyle Workman |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 116 minutes 133 minutes (Unrated) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $26 million |
| Box office | $177.4 million |
The 40-Year-Old Virgin is a 2005 Americanromantic comedy film directed byJudd Apatow (in his featuredirectorial debut), who produced the film withClayton Townsend andShauna Robertson. It featuresSteve Carell as the titular 40-year-oldvirgin Andy, an employee at an electronics store.Paul Rudd,Romany Malco, andSeth Rogen play co-workers who resolve to help him lose his virginity, andCatherine Keener stars as Andy's love interest, Trish.
Watching Carell's performance inAnchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) inspired Apatow to cast him in the lead role for the film, and they wroteThe 40-Year-Old Virgin together. It was based on a sketch Carell created withThe Second City where a man aged 40 hides a secret. Filming took place inLos Angeles andSan Fernando Valley, California, from January to April 2005.
The film was released theatrically in the United States on August 19, 2005, byUniversal Pictures, and grossed over $177 million worldwide on a $26 million budget. Critical reviews were generally positive, with praise for Carell's performance and the film's well-meaning yet bawdy humor, which was a point of contention by some conservative commentators as well. He won accolades from theGolden Schmoes Awards andMTV Movie & TV Awards for his role while Keener received awards from theBoston Society of Film Critics andLos Angeles Film Critics Association.The 40-Year-Old Virgin was named by theAmerican Film Institute one of 2005's Top 10 Films.
Andy Stitzer is a shy 40-year-old introvert who works as a stock supervisor at the electronics store Smart Tech. He gave up trying to have sex after various failed attempts and lives alone in an apartment with a collection of action figures and video games. When a conversation at a poker game with his co-workers David, Jay, and Cal turns to past sexual exploits, they figure out that he secretly is still avirgin.
Andy is mortified upon discovering the next day that everyone else at work has learned about the secret, including their boss Paula, who is attracted to him and later privately offers to take his virginity. He almost quits work in humiliation before David consoles him and recommends trying again to have sex. David, Jay, and Cal become determined to help Andy achieve this. They all give differing advice on how to interact with women.
David invites him to join them for aspeed dating event and unsuccessfully tries to reconnect with his ex-girlfriend Amy there. Jay drags Andy to various social events, books a painful chestwaxing appointment, and sets him up with a prostitute, which all end with embarrassing results. Cal advises Andy to be confident and ask women questions instead of discussing himself. He practices this on a bookstore clerk named Beth, who quickly becomes intrigued by him. David gives Andy his pornography collection, encouraging him to masturbate.
Andy eventually gets a date with a customer named Trish Piedmont. At the end of their first date, they almost have sex but are interrupted by her teenage daughter, Marla. Trish suggests they postpone having sex, and Andy enthusiastically agrees; they decide to abstain until their 20th date. Their relationship flourishes over the following weeks. She encourages Andy's dream of starting a business and helps fund it by selling his collectibles. After Marla argues with Trish over wanting birth control, Andy takes her to a group information session at asexual health clinic, where she is mocked for being a virgin. Andy admits his virginity to defend her, earning him Marla's respect.
Meanwhile, David suffers an emotional breakdown at work over his obsession with Amy, and takes a vow ofcelibacy. The breakdown prompts Paula to give his sales duties to Andy for the day and she later promotes him to floor manager due to his high sales quota. As Cal takes on Andy's previous role, he hires a woman named Bernadette to work at the store, hoping to match her with David so he can move on from Amy. After Jay's girlfriend, Jill, breaks up with him due to his infidelity, he concedes to Andy that sex can ruin a relationship. Following a reconciliation with Jill, Jay invites Andy and the others to a nightclub celebrating her pregnancy.
Trish tries to initiate sex with Andy on their 20th date and becomes upset when he resists. They argue, and Andy leaves to meet his friends at a nightclub. He gets drunk and leaves with Beth to have sex at her apartment. Cal gets David and Bernadette to hook up, while Marla convinces Trish to reconcile with Andy. At Beth's, Andy sobers up and decides to leave without having sex, just as his friends arrive and encourage him to go back to Trish.
Andy returns to his apartment to find Trish waiting for him. She has seen David's porn collection; he tries to explain, but she flees in alarm and disgust, fearing Andy may be asexual deviant. While pursuing her on his bike, Andy collides with her car, flying through the side of a billboard truck. She rushes to his side, and Andy finally confesses that he is a virgin. Trish is relieved and accepting, and they profess their love for each other. They eventually marry in a lavish ceremony with everyone in attendance, having generated roughly $500,000 from the sales of his action figures to pay for it, before having sex for the first time. The film ends with a musical sequence where all the characters sing and dance to "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In".
.jpg)
Other cast members includeKat Dennings as Marla Piedmont,Mindy Kaling as Amy,Gerry Bednob as Mooj,Marika Domińczyk as Bernadette,Shelley Malil as Haziz,Mo Collins as Gina,Kimberly Page,Gillian Vigman, andSiena Goines as women attending the speed dating event,Nancy Walls as the health clinic counselor,Cedric Yarbrough,David Koechner, andJeff Kahn as fathers attending the health clinic, Loren Berman,Nick Lashaway, and Julian Foster as boys attending the health clinic, Chelsea Smith as Julia, Erica Vittina Phillips as Jill,Jonah Hill as a customer at Trish's store,Jordan Masterson as Mark,Jazzmun as a prostitute, Miki Mia as the waxing lady, Denise Meyerson as Robin, Michael Bierman as a 16-year-old version of Andy,Lee Weaver as Joe,Kevin Hart,Wayne Federman, Ron Marasco, and Joseph T. Mastrolia as Smart Tech customers, Kate Luyben as a woman who purchases videotapes,Stormy Daniels as a porn star, Shannon Bradley,Brianna Brown, Elizabeth Carey, Elizabeth DeCicco,Hilary Shepard, andBarret Swatek as bar girls,Carla Gallo as a girl who sucks on toes, Laura Bottrell as a college girl,Joe Nunez as a man who buffs floors, Charlie Hartsock as the speed dating MC, Gloria Helena Jones as Sara,Marisa Guterman as a girl wearing braces, Matthew McKane as a motorist, Miyoko Shimosawa as a waitress,Rose Abdoo,Steve Bannos, and Brooke Hamlin as restaurant customers, Marilyn Dodds Frank as a woman who buys a television, andLoudon Wainwright III as a priest.[5][6]
The 40-Year-Old Virgin was Judd Apatow's directorial debut. While serving as a producer for the 2004 filmAnchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, he got the idea to have a film with Steve Carell in the lead role after watching his performance in that, thinking "It would be great to see a Steve Carell movie". Apatow later asked him whether he had any movie ideas, and both men wroteThe 40-Year-Old Virgin together after the latter expressed desires to make something about a virgin who was aged 40,[7] basing it off a sketch Carell created while performing with the improv comedy troupeThe Second City. Carell did many versions of the sketch, trying out different scenarios where the 40-year-old man is hiding a "big secret".[1][8] They began writing the movie in 2004.[9] Apatow had difficulty coming up with the ending for the film.Garry Shandling suggested it was important to show that Andy was having better sex because he was in love, and instead of directly showing the sex they decided to have Andy sing and have a musical number.[10]
Apatow started casting the film early in the development process and tailored its script to the strengths of the actors.[11] He also produced it forApatow Productions andUniversal Pictures along withClayton Townsend andShauna Robertson.[5] Catherine Keener was the first choice for the female lead.[11][12] Apatow specifically cast Stormy Daniels because he wanted "someone who's really, really comfortable" doing nude scenes that were required for the film's plot.[7] A large portion of the dialogue inThe 40-Year-Old Virgin was improvised.[13] Keener stated in 2010 that Apatow "never really would even say cut" and instead would say "reload" when burning through film due to the improvisation, calling the experience "hysterically funny". She also mentioned "you had to kind of lose sense of being self-conscious on that movie because it was sort of an all-in in terms of throwing a joke out or even the writer would sit behind the monitors behind the curtain".[14] Jane Lynch's character Paula was originally planned to be male before her audition. Nancy Walls recommended Lynch for the role after asking Apatow "You've got all these guys in your film. Why don't you read Jane for store manager?" He reworked the script for Lynch after her first audition.[9] The production used over a million feet of film, a milestone reached on the last day of filming and celebrated with freechampagne fromTechnicolor SA.[15][16]
Filming began on January 17, 2005, and wrapped on April 1, 2005.[5] The movie was shot in parts ofCalifornia, includingStudio City, Los Angeles, andSan Fernando Valley'sVentura Boulevard.[1]Lyle Workman composed the film's score whileJack N. Green andBrent White respectively served as its cinematographer and editor.[5] Production was halted by Universal Pictures after the first week, due to concerns that the physical appearance of Carell's character resembled that of aserial killer, and that the early footage was not funny.[17] Paul Rudd was criticized for being overweight and the studio was unhappy with how Apatow treated the project like anindependent film.[10][18] Apatow initially had a supporting role in mind forJason Segel that Universal refused to allow.[19] Because of the accidental deaths of fish used inThe 40-Year-Old Virgin, theAmerican Humane Association withheld its "no animals were harmed..." disclaimer.[20][21]
Seven test screenings were held for the film prior to entering theaters, with each costing approximately $10,000. It was initially considered "uncomfortably dirty, and not all that funny" before Apatow reduced the amount of pornography shown.[22] Malco once pleaded for him to cut his scenes, fearing what would happen following its release and insisting: "My mom is an ordained minister, bro, cut me out of the movie, please. I'm serious." This request was declined because Apatow found Malco funny. He was surprised to find out his mother ended up taking "all of her church friends to see it, multiple times", and statedThe 40-Year-Old Virgin "changed my career" by leading to more subsequent job offers without prior auditions.[23] Jay was initially conceived as "a preppy, fraternity boy" before Malco's audition prompted him to be reworked into a "streetwise, trash-talking womanizer". He liked how the character "actually learns his own life lessons along with Andy" and called him the main character's "sexual antithesis".[1] Kevin Hart had previously auditioned for the role, which Apatow did not feel suited him, thinking they "needed someone who was more of a lothario" and was not convinced he "looked like someone who would get more women than Romany Malco". This led to Hart being cast as a customer instead.[9]
Carell's chest was genuinely waxed for the film, with five cameras set up to capture the scene, which was done in one take. He insisted on having an actual wax, telling Apatow: "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."[24] Malco began to feel sick while watching the waxing and ran away from the set.[7] According to Miki Mia, it took three or four hours to shoot the scene, and she requested that some of the chest hair be trimmed in advance to reduce Carell's pain. Mia noted that only "a tiny bit" was removed "so that it'll look great on camera". His chest was never fully waxed during the filming, and he shaved off all the hair after three weeks.[25] After Carell blurted outKelly Clarkson's name during the wax, Clarkson told Rogen in 2021 that it would be "literally the one thing people know me from" regardless of anything else she did. Rogen explained he came up with this idea while seeing her on television as he was compiling a list of "clean jokes" and "dirty jokes" to use in the scene.[26]
On August 19, 2005,The 40-Year-Old Virgin first premiered in theaters within the United States. The film opened atop the North American box office, grossing $21,422,815 during the opening weekend, and stayed at number one the following weekend. It grossed a total of $109,449,237 in this market, and $67,929,408 internationally, for a total of $177,378,645 against a budget of $26 million. The film was 25th in global gross, and 19th in the United States that year. It was released in theUnited Kingdom on September 2, 2005,[27] and topped the nation's box office that weekend.[28] Later that month, the film premiered in Germany, Greece, New Zealand, and Russia with respective openings of $2,195,972, $202,400, $144,666, and $443,428. Elsewhere, it opened with $66,277 in Argentina, $1,608,724 within Australia, $5,451 from Bulgaria, $25,200 in the Czech Republic, $29,884 within Lebanon, $310,280 from the Netherlands, $119,930 in Norway, $133,509 within Poland, $9,091 from Slovakia, $87,535 in South Africa, and $157,386 within Turkey. Upon being distributed in Spain, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand,The 40-Year-Old Virgin also had first-weekend grosses of $874,373, $240,882, $78,099, and $72,800 respectively within these markets.[27]
On December 11, 2005, a version of the film that runs for 133 minutes was released onto DVD under the banner "unrated", which is 17 minutes longer than what was shown in theaters. This additional footage consists of more nudity, Andy askingViagra for help on how to get rid of an erection, another scene featuring a "bad encounter" from his younger days, fantasies of a porn star, and Jay having "a lot more amusing racial banter" with Mooj.[3] A 2008Blu-ray distribution includes the same extended cut along with its theatrical version.[29] For the 100th Anniversary of Universal Pictures, both editions were re-released onto DVD on January 10, 2012. This version also had a similar banner of "unrated".[30]
With an approval rating of 84% at the end of 2005,Rotten Tomatoes rankedThe 40-Year-Old Virgin as the year's "Best Reviewed Comedy" and added it "proves that Steve Carell has the comedic chops to carry a movie and provide a good share of laughs".[31]Ebert and Roeper gave the film a "two thumbs up" rating.Roger Ebert said, "I was surprised by how funny, how sweet, and how wise the movie really is" and "the more you think about it, the betterThe 40-Year-Old Virgin gets."[32][33] The pair gave minor criticisms, with Ebert describing "the way she (Catherine Keener as 'Trish') empathizes with Andy" as "almost too sweet to be funny" andRichard Roeper saying that the film was too long, and at times extremely frustrating.[32] Roeper later chose the movie as the tenth best of 2005.[34]
The A.V. Club reviewerNathan Rabin felt Carell made "a surprisingly graceful transition to a leading-man role" following his performance inAnchorman, and said both of them worked well due to the "chemistry and comic chops" of their casts. He concluded by praising Carell for instilling "a good deal of complexity and sophistication into his affectionate characterization" and believed it compensated for a perceived lack of humor in the romance.[35]Owen Gleiberman ofEntertainment Weekly gave the movie an A−, saying that Carell portrays Andy "in the most surprising way possible: as a credible human being".[36]Manohla Dargis ofThe New York Times called the film a "charmingly bent comedy", adding that Carell was an essential component for "making this film work as well as it does".[37]
Emanuel Levy gave the film a B+ grade, calling it an R-rated comedy superior toWedding Crashers that has "a generous heart and a sweet, almost naive center" in spite of the profane language used.[38] While Brian Lowry ofVariety believedThe 40-Year-Old Virgin was slightly too long and "indulges in some juvenile excesses", he also felt it often provoked laughs even when "sophomorically homophobic".[39] Rating the movie3+1⁄2 stars,The Baltimore Sun critic Chris Kaltenbach opened with "People see the name of this movie and get defensive. What's wrong with being a virgin? they ask. Absolutely nothing, and that's part of the point ofThe 40-Year-Old Virgin, probably the most sweet-spirited sex comedy ever made. It's pretty funny, too." He went on to call the lead character "endearing" and "a marvelous comic invention".[2]
Ann Hornaday ofThe Washington Post is critical of the film, but praised Carell for his performance. She wrote Andy remaining "steadfastly chaste and genuinely humane" was its most surprising aspect and described him as a character "of old-fashioned decency in a movie that otherwise flouts it at every turn".[40] It was condemned by Harry Forbes ofCatholic News Service as "relentlessly vulgar and frequently offensive",[41] and by political columnistCal Thomas for being an example of societal decline in regard to "self-control or what was once known as purity".[42]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 85% based on 188 reviews, with an average rating of 7.20/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Steve Carell's first star turn scores big with a tender treatment of its titular underdog, using raunchy but realistically funny comedy to connect with adult audiences."[43] OnMetacritic, the film has a score of 73 out of 100 based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[44] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[45]
For the film's tenth anniversary, Erik Abriss fromComplex and Josh Wigler ofMTV News both wrote pieces asserting it remained enjoyable. The former called this "the best romantic comedy of the 2000s" as well as "the most influential" for shifting "the comedic zeitgeist from inane to intellectual, from screwball to sensitive, from hyper-masculine to hilariously honest" while the latter compiled a list of reasons it "Still Cracks You Up 10 Years Later", with the first being how the film "marked the beginning of a modern comedy age".[46] Writing forThe Atlantic on the same day, Megan Garber feltThe 40-Year-Old Virgin "holds up" and might have become better over time. She wrote that the movie "launched (almost) a thousand bromantic comedies", put Apatow "on the mainstream map", and made him a "Hollywood king (and, much more interestingly, queen)-maker". Garber added it raises questions on how people become adults and established how "whatever makes an adult now, it isn't, in general, the thing that has defined adulthood for so much of human history: the having of sex."[47] Chris Serico ofToday said this "has continued to resonate among comedy fans, and served as a breakthrough movie for its director, Judd Apatow, and his co-writer/star, Steve Carell" a decade after being released. He went onto praise Carell's performance and stated it "took his career and the movie to the next level".[48]
A 2018 article fromDetroit Free Press contributor Julie Hinds noted thatThe 40-Year-Old Virgin was "Michigan's favorite romantic comedy", and called that ranking "a fine choice" when "Carell's character has a heart of gold" and "eventually lands in a solid, committed relationship".[49] 15 years after the film's premiere,NME writer Beth Webb praised its use of "a mature virgin" for a protagonist who does not feel sex-starved. She called that aspect "a milestone" for "cinema's muddled relationship with virginity, in which women have since taken control of their virtue on screen, while men remain largely underrepresented" and declared the movie as a whole to be "a milestone for sex-positive cinema".[50] In July 2025, it was ranked at number 62 onRolling Stone's list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century."[51] When celebrating the movie's 20th anniversary the next month, Jake Kring-Schreifels ofThe Ringer saidThe 40-Year-Old Virgin "kicked off a golden age of raunchy bro comedies". He also called the film "a deeply funny and earnest exploration of American masculinity".[9]
I think that there's no way that you could have a sequel. I think the deed has been done.
We had a million feet of film. This is a true thing, I never realized this. If you shoot a million feet of film the film company will buy champagne for the cast and crew. (laughter) They do.
Mr. Apatow also sought Mr. Segel for a supporting role in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" as a friend of the title character, portrayed by Steve Carell, but was refused by Universal Pictures.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
