...the true star of the HD-30 HD-DVD disc is the mind shattering wealth of supplements that makes this cardboard slip-covered release one of the most impressive HD-DVD titles yet to hit store shelves.
Tools:
Recommend review to a friend »
Steve Carell´s comedy about a forty year old virgin who is faced with peer pressure driven urges to engage in sexual activity has made the star of television´s "The Office" a box office star. The film does not break any great ground and is reminiscent of so many previous comedies where an unlikely underdog tries desperately to get into the pants of a woman that will ultimately fall in love with him. It is complete with the misfit band of friends and sexual humor that has been present in successful comedies such as "Office Space," "The Wedding Singer" and the overlooked "Grandma´s Boy." Fortunately, it is far better than Dane Cook´s horrible "Employee of the Month." These comedies are populous on store shelves and theatrical screens for a reason – they sell tickets to males between the age of eighteen and thirty eight.
In "The 40 Year Old Virgin," Steve Carell is the quiet and nerdy Andy Stitzer. He works as a stock supervisor for a Circuit City like electronics retail store and is ridiculed and ignored by his peers. They see him as a quiet outsider who may or may not be a serial killer. When they are one man short for a game of cards, Andy is invited to join David (Paul Rudd), Jay (Romany Malco), Cal (Seth Rogen) and Mooj (Gerry Bednob). When Stitzer sharks them on the card table, the conversation turns to sex and everybody boasts about their dirty exploits. Andy tries to take part in the explicit conversation, but badly fumbles when he states that a tit feels like a bag of sand. His secret quickly becomes the story of the century as his coworkers quickly learn that Andy is a forty year old virgin.
Against his wishes and desires, his newfound friends try to do everything to get him in the pants of any girl willing or drunk enough to sleep with Andy. His awkward social skills and unfamiliarity with women, relationships and sex prove to be an almost insurmountable wall and Andy remains a stoic virgin. Eventually, he meets a single mother that works across the street, Trish (Catherine Keener). They form a friendship and begin to date, but make a pact to not engage in sexual activity for twenty dates. This allows Andy to hide his sexual inexperience and brings Andy and Trish´s feelings to a deeper state, but puts Andy in a situation that will become quite sticky when it comes to finally doing the deed.
There is a lot of bedroom humor in "The 40 Year Old Virgin" that is adult enough to warrant the ´Unrated´ badge of honor worn by the HD-DVD release. There are more than a couple big and beautiful breasts to torment Andy and his fear of having sex. Plenty of jokes about genitalia and sexual techniques fly throughout the film. At more than a few points in the film, "The 40 Year Old Virgin" becomes far dirtier and filthier in content then most other genre entries. The language is quite rough and anything from the F-bomb to the feared N-word are used freely. The always necessary drug jokes and references are sparsely placed in the film and there are of course some rather funny bits of drunken humor. Whether you label the type of humor found in "The 40 Year Old Virgin" as juvenile or potty humor, it is damn funny film.
Besides the tits, curse words and puke, there is a very good story to "The 40 Year Old Virgin." Andy is a geek who fears sex and has been grossly unsuccessful with the ladies. He doesn´t want to remain a virgin, but he is frightened beyond belief at the prospect of having sex. He is a good person, who is kind, intelligent and personable, but a woman´s vagina is his kryptonite. Catherine Keener is a lovely lady of nearly fifty years and she is not the typical object of affection in these films. She is older, an A-cup and her character is a grandmother. "The 40 Year Old Virgin" has main characters that are ´real´ people who can easily exist in society. Their relationship builds on friendship and understanding, not driven entirely by hormones. Their love story is believable and genuine and the humor of the film is a way to manage a true fear of the main character and the situations help him finally overcome these fears and, as we say, lay some pipe.
This is a very funny film that I greatly enjoyed. I place it alongside perennial classics "Office Space" and "Grandma´s Boy" in this genre of comedy. I don´t necessarily like "The Office" and have not experienced much of Carell, but he is perfectly suited for this film. Carell and his co-stars have me laughing my ass off. I know some people that are not far off of Carell´s character and have his same fears, profession and general attitude. I also know somebody that has a massive action figure classic, but they married my sister. I still see some of Andy´s mannerisms in him. It is rare when one of these comedies that relies on sex jokes and foul language to generate laugher actually has a nice and meaningful plot. "The 40 Year Old Virgin" is one of these rare films and an absolute blast for anybody that isn´t afraid of some off-color humor.
Video:
"The 40 Year Old Virgin" is delivered on HD-DVD with a VC-1 encoded 1.85:1 widescreen presentation. The packaging actually lists "Encoded VC-1" on the rear of the box, the first time I can remember seeing the advanced codec used as a potential selling point. The transfer is nicely detailed and incredibly colored. There are a lot of very nice sights in this picture and I can happily report that they come across clear and clean during each and every scene. There are one or two minor moments when a little film grain pops up, but these instances were so few and far between that they were easily forgotten. Fleshtones are accurate and the textures and defects of each actors face are on full display on this 1080p mastered title. I won´t state that "The 40 Year Old Virgin" is one of the best titles I´ve seen on HD-DVD. It is a comedy and doesn´t contain a lot of mind-blowing imagery (although many guys will argue with me on that point). There was some edge enhancement, which is not all that common on HD-DVD. However, it is still an above average title that nicely exhibits the three dimensional looking picture that makes owning a player capable of playing these titles worthwhile.
Sound:
English and French Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 soundtracks are housed on this HD-DVD release. The mix is very lively and does as much as it can with the provided source materials. Rear surrounds are used when something is available to populate them. The .1 LFE channel thumps nicely during musical selections that contain bass, or a few other sound effects contained in the film. I remember one particular scene where Carell´s character kicks a toe sucking vixen in the face and the deep thud that resulted in her hitting the floor. This film is filled with familiar tunes that range from James Brown to Salt ´n Peppa. Being a comedy, the rear surrounds aren´t given many moments to shine, but there are moments in the film when there usage is easily noticed. Dialogue is always important in a comedy and there was never a moment when I struggled in the slightest to understand what was being said on-screen.
Extras:
The HD-DVD release of "The 40 Year Old Virgin" is an incarnation of the "Unrated" standard definition DVD release. This was the first Universal title that came packaged with a cardboard slipcover. The slip cover featured a Velcro fastener that changed the picture of Steve Carell when opened. His happy chest hair quickly came into full view. Universal is certainly hedging a few bets that this title is going to sell well and have gone to new heights in presenting an HD-DVD release. The slipcase is visually interesting and brightly colored. The familiar Elite Red HD-DVD banner is a bright red on the HD-DVD´s cardboard facing. The HD-DVD contained under the slipcover is a standard Elite Red case with Universal´s shiny foil bordering on the face of the cover art. Shiny.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]20543[/release]