Steve Carell can do some amazing things, at his best. He was absolutely brilliant as Michael, the boss in the successful television comedy series, "The Office". Frankly, I am not that surprised that the show seemed to go under quickly following his departure. He was not a minor comedic source for the show, and in fact, I think he was a very large part of the reason why that show was as funny as it was.
Here, in this movie, he is at his best, as well.
When I first heard about this movie, I will admit that my initial expectations were fairly low. It would probably be trashy, or perhaps incredibly stupid, or both.
In fact, it is a decent movie. It's not trashy, or anything. It is actually sweet, on many levels, and could appeal to a wide audience.
****Spoiler Alert****
Carell plays Andy Stitzer. Yes, he's a 40 year old virgin. He's also the model of stereotypes for what most people would view here as a loser. An avid reader and collector of comic books, he also has an enormous collection of toys to go along with that. He has some other strange (and unattractive collections, as well), including an enormous video game collection, which he spends an inordinate amount of time playing. Finally, he engages in some strange activities, such as playing musical instruments on his own, and spending hours with precise ingredients in order to satisfy strange cravings.
With such a track record, we understand that he has no woman in his life. Furthermore, he never has had a woman in his life. When invited to play card with some guys from work (who asked him only reluctantly, when they were desprately short of guys for a poker night), he tries his best to blend in when the talk turns, inevitably, to sex.
But he is put on the spot, and asked to share a sex story. Here, he messes up, and shows too much of his hand, by comparing a woman's breasts to "bags of sand". Of course, they do not know what he is talking about, and it does not take long before they understand that he has never touched a woman's breasts. It does not take much more deduction to know that he is a virgin.
From that point on, those three friends make it their mission to get Andy laid. When he leaves, he keeps replaying the evening over and over again in his head, disgusted with himself. He is nervous, hoping that the guys will have forgotten. But when he returns to work the next day, it is clear that not only have they not forgotten, but everyone working in the store now knows, as well.
Andy is ready to quit, to escape this problem, as he has always done. But he is talked out of it, and so, now, he is kind of forced to deal with it. The guys urge him to talk to some women, and he does. He meets some women, and some of these encounters are actually pretty hilarious. Yet, a sexual encounter never actually does take place, and the pressure just keeps building and building. Still, his friends continue to try and prepare him, to groom him, and to provide him with further opportunities to meet women, with the intent of getting laid. Andy's nervousness grows.
There is one woman, however, that piques his curiosity more than the others. Her name is Trish (played well by Catherine Keener), and she seems more promising. He is not going to be the type of guy that just jumps from one woman to the next, and she is looking for something a bit more serious. They seem to be comfortable with one another, and he really wants things to work out between them.
After the first few dates, they agreed to wait 20 dates before getting physical. Trish thinks that Andy is being patient because he wants to relationship to work, because that is how he sold it. What she does not know is that he wants to wait because he is a virgin, and very nervous about the whole thing. He tries to hide it, to play cool, but this will come back to bite him.
Andy has opened up to his coworkers, and slowly but surely, breaking out of the cocoon that he has made out of his life. He begins to see these coworkers of his, who by now have become out and out friends, and sees them as actual people, with faults, who make mistakes, and then have to face the consequences of their own poor choices. If he is tempted to live their kind of lifestyles, which are more sexually active than his, obviously, he begins to understand that their way is not necessarily better, or free from problems.
Yet, he keeps getting prepped by them to finally "do it". So when he and Trish start having problems, mostly caused by his hesitancy on the 20th date to get intimate with her, he temporarily gets swayed, and almost slips with an episode with a girl that means nothing to him. He and Trish are on the rocks, but all he can think about is her. But when she tries to pay him a surprise visit, she sees some weird stuff in his apartment, including a vast collection of porn that one of his coworker friends has lent him. She gets freaked out, and runs out of his apartment.
He goes after her. The problem is that she is driving a car, while he is riding his only means of transportation - his bicycle. Still, he manages to make it a race, and even just about catches up to her, before essentially crashing in front of her, and injuring himself in the process.
She runs to attend to him, hoping he is still okay, and that is when he finally admits to her that he is a virgin. Finally, she begins to relax, understanding his trepidation which led to the seemingly strange behavior.
Afterwards, the movie essentially ends with Andy and Trish getting married, following a hilariously suggestive bed scene, when Andy finally loses his virginity. Even the end credits have some humor, with a video of the actors performing to "The Age of Aquarius".
Pretty funny movie, and I'd definitely recommend this for laughs.
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