Today’s Prayer Focus
MOVIE REVIEW
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
MPA Rating:
for pervasive sexual content, language and some drug use.
for pervasive sexual content, language and some drug use.
Reviewed by: Matthew Broadway
CONTRIBUTOR
| Moral Rating: | Extremely Offensive |
| Moviemaking Quality: |
|
| Primary Audience: | Adults |
| Genre: | Comedy Romance |
| Length: | 1 hr. 56 min. |
| Year of Release: | 2005 |
| USA Release: |
August 19, 2005 (wide) |
Relevant Issues
For a follower of Christ, what is LOVE—a feeling, an emotion, or an action?
What is true love and how do you know when you have found it?
Learn how to make your love the best it can be. Christian answers to questions about sex, marriage, sexual addictions, and more. Valuable resources for Christian couples, singles and pastors.
How can I deal with temptations? Answer
Should I save sex for marriage? Answer
How far is too far? What are the guidelines for dating relationships? Answer
What are the consequences of sexual immorality? Answer
Teens! Have questions? Find answers in our popular TeenQs section. Get answers to your questions about life, dating and much more.
| Featuring | Steve Carell, Catherine Keener, Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, Romany Malco |
| Director |
Judd Apatow |
| Producer | Judd Apatow, Clayton Townsend, Shauna Weinberg |
| Distributor |
“Better late than never.”
The 40-Year-Old Virgin is a film about chastity. Andy, the main character, is a 40 year old who lives alone, collects action figures, plays video games and is a virgin. He is totally sexually pure. His less pure coworkers discover his sexual status and make it their mission to rid Andy of his virginity.
During the antics that ensue, Andy meets a divorced woman in whom he is truly interested, but there are complications that arise in a romance between a 40 year old virgin with friends like his and a divorced mother of three.
The film is riddled with over 100 instances of profanity and likewise with excruciatingly coarse sexual references. Every profane word I know was employed several times. As for objectionable content, the entire first half revolves around crude sexual situations, images (including sustained nudity) and language. Several characters display a total lack of respect or regard for the women they constantly objectify.
However, the viewer sees these things through Andy’s eyes, and he does not condone any of this behavior. He is innocent, and if there is a redeeming element of the film it is this: although the characters make fun of him, the movie doesn’t. In fact, the overall theme of the film, in spite of the shameless methods of conveyance, is that premarital chastity is the best way to live.
The three friends, who represent a fairly realistic example of what high school peer pressure can look like, are miserable. Their advice only leads Andy to unhappiness. In the end, they actually admit they were wrong and Andy was right. This is a beautiful moment of truth to see on the big screen because Andy’s values are Biblical.
Don’t get me wrong, Andy is no saint. He uses profanity and gets drunk, but his core values are good, and in his moments of greatest temptation, he makes the right choices. However, Christian parents should only allow their children to view this film if they are okay with their minds being injected with profanity and numerous obscene sexual images and phrases.
In spite of the good overall theme, there is an incredible amount of objectionable material involved. In regard to the humorousness of the film, it is disappointing. Steve Cerell is a gifted comedic actor, but his talent is only somewhat showcased here. The movie is mildly funny and not nearly worth either the ticket costs one must pay or the moral filth one must deal with to watch it.
DVD cover
Violence: None / Profanity: Extreme / Sex/nudity: Heavy
See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.
Negative—We got free tickets to see this (my husband and I, my sister and law, and two of our best friends all went) the night before it was actually released. We left about 45 minutes into it, and should have probably sooner. It was EXTREMELY OFFENSIVE. Tons of cursing that was constant, More than one scene w/nudity (which was not listed when telling why it is rated R) and also pornography was in it. The language was VERY offensive and rude. Very degrading towards women. I actually felt sick during and after we left. I feel sick just thinking about it now. Most of the comments were NOT funny! I hope this helps someone decide to NOT see it. VERY BAD CHOICE in every way!!!
Extremely Offensive/3
Extremely Offensive/3
Leslie, age 25
Negative—I am ashamed to admit I went to see this movie, but it was so well-reviewed by so many savvy critics as extremely funny that I wanted to see the laughs. Your reviewer explains the movie well. I want to add that no one should even consider bringing a child to this movie, not EVER. It is simply gross, and extremely demeaning to women. The only thing that kept me from walking out was the character of Andy, the virgin, who is really a very nice, endearing fellow, and who maintains his virginity till he gets married. His story is a thin, VERY thin thread of decency in the muck and mire of a disgusting society. The ultimate moral of the story—that Andy keeps true to himself and stays chaste till he falls in love and marries despite pressures from society—is just not worth the movie. So take it from me, don’t bother seeing this one.
Extremely Offensive/3
Extremely Offensive/3
Halyna Barannik, age 59
Positive—It’s easy to knock a movie that is about sex, phallic jokes and female body parts and write it off as just anothere “Gross out movie” but that is just too simplistic. Yes, the movie is offensive, hence the R rating. No one should taken children under the age of 16 to this movie, nor does Caroll (who co-wrote the movie) want them to see, since he didn’t water it down. But what the people here are not posting is that Carroll’s character is the virtuous one, leading a better life than his friends who are all getting some. He also does not compromise his values by having sex, when he could of twice in the movie because:
1. He is not married to them.
2. He is not in love with them.
In actuality, he changes the viewpoints of his one friend (Paul Rudd, the romantic) and having a child changes the outlook of another. His viriginity has positive effects on his more worldly friends and he does not disrespect his character for not having sex. So I would like to remind people that just because raunchy humor is shown, that it doesn’t mean that a movie like “The 40 year old virgin” doesn’t have any moral or morality.
Very Offensive/5
1. He is not married to them.
2. He is not in love with them.
In actuality, he changes the viewpoints of his one friend (Paul Rudd, the romantic) and having a child changes the outlook of another. His viriginity has positive effects on his more worldly friends and he does not disrespect his character for not having sex. So I would like to remind people that just because raunchy humor is shown, that it doesn’t mean that a movie like “The 40 year old virgin” doesn’t have any moral or morality.
Very Offensive/5
Casualsuede, age 35
Negative—My wife and I only made it to the 20 minute mark… we love to laugh and really needed a laugh, but this was NOT funny. Our theater had it listed as PG-13, not R. It had a real hatred of women, and reduced women to a single body part.
We both were disgusted and barely touched our popcorn. We love going to the movies, even though it is rare for us. Doing the smoochies, having buttered popcorn and soda can be so much fun for us, but this was really just awful. A waste of money…
Extremely Offensive/1
We both were disgusted and barely touched our popcorn. We love going to the movies, even though it is rare for us. Doing the smoochies, having buttered popcorn and soda can be so much fun for us, but this was really just awful. A waste of money…
Extremely Offensive/1
Pete, age 39
Negative—I am ashamed to have spent 25 minutes or my life watching this movie. I left and received a refund, but that doesn’t remove the material I was subjected to. It is pure verbal pornography (if there is such a thing). I would not ever recommend this movie to anyone, regardless of their moral compass! This movie clearly intended to be rauchy and vile. That is truly disturbing.
Extremely Offensive/3
Extremely Offensive/3
C. Stephens, age 34
Positive—How can somebody (or bodies in this case) tell us what the films values towards women or anything else is if you left so early? If you don’t like raunchy humor don’t go see a movie called “The 40 year Old Virgin.” I rather found the movie to be extremely sweet natured which is completely refreshing from the nihilistic and cynical comedies that meander from one fart joke to the next.
Better than Average/4
Better than Average/4
DC, age 31
Positive—I wish I lived in the “G”-rated world that most of my fellow Christians who reviewed this movie apparently do. However, as a Christian man, I live in the real world and face real temptations every day, and maybe that’s why I could relate so well to this movie. I know what it’s like to try to remain chaste while your co-workers and roommates are out chasing every woman they see. I’ve experienced co-workers trying to fix me up with some pretty “interesting” ladies to see if I would break my vow of “no more sex before marriage.” I also know what it’s like to have attractive women make themselves available to you while you try to remain true to GOD and His word (where were they BEFORE I was saved??? LOL!). And that’s why this movie was so enjoyable to me. And given that the main character remained a virgin until he married and showed his friends the emptiness of their own “lust-filled” lives shows that even a movie out of “Heathen” Hollywood can hit the mark every once in a while. As a man, I recommend this movie, both for the laughs and the message.
Average/5
Average/5
Hiten Wilson, age 29
Positive—…a hilarious film. I was laughing from start to end. There is A LOT of swearing and sexual content, so I would not reccomend this to the kids; however, there is some virtue in this movie. Andy goes along with his friends at first when they try to get him to lose his virginity, but near the end, he realizes that he’s okay with being a virgin and that he’s holding out for the one special woman in his life. Although there is a lot of objectional content, you can find virtuousness in this movie. I recommend it for mature audiences only.
Extremely Offensive/3½
Extremely Offensive/3½
Scott Buzzell, age 18
Positive—…without a doubt the funniest movie of the year. Maybe even the past 5 years. Is it rude? Yes. Is it offensive? Sure. Is it rated R? Yup. And should you know better? I would sure hope so. 40 Year old Virgin is an R rated movie about, guess what! A virgin. Refreshingly it doesn’t use shock tactics for laughs. The material is actually genuinely funny. They could have thrown in so many cheap laughs, but they really rarely ever do.
It seems to me this movie is more of an issue, not of the content of the film, but rather it’s taboo topics with Christians. At what point can we no longer talk about sex? When does that conversation finally become “offensive.” That’s the real issue here. The movie is hillarious. Yes, it’s about sex, but what point do we stop having sex as “our worst kept secret” and talk about it like its an actual part of life?
Extremely Offensive/4½
It seems to me this movie is more of an issue, not of the content of the film, but rather it’s taboo topics with Christians. At what point can we no longer talk about sex? When does that conversation finally become “offensive.” That’s the real issue here. The movie is hillarious. Yes, it’s about sex, but what point do we stop having sex as “our worst kept secret” and talk about it like its an actual part of life?
Extremely Offensive/4½
Gene, age 18
Positive—Although I was warned of the highly adult sexual content (language, some adult situations, words) etc. I thought the movie was very cute! The movie was about a 40 yr old virgin whose friends thought he was living a very boring life because he was a virgin. They wanted to “spice” up his life by taking him out to clubs. bars, setting him up on blind dates, dating services, and pornographic movies and etc. …I thought [he] was a perfect kind-hearted gentlemen, and I didn’t think he was a “geek” at all even though he had an endless collection of action figures and played video games etc. I thought he was very cute—I just loved him!
What I liked about it despite all the language here and there and sexual innuendo (which I am guilty of laughing at the punchlines!) was that the 40 yr old virgin fell in love on his own, and he kept himself a virgin up until he was married—which I highly respect! Very good ending! Amen to that.
I don’t recommend children to go to this movie… Again the 40 yr old virgin was a “good guy” and “saved” himself until he got married and married a very nice woman who “waited” for him. Also, he earned respect by his friends and they also learned to be monogomous. This movie is not a Christian movie but had a good ending.
Offensive / 4½
What I liked about it despite all the language here and there and sexual innuendo (which I am guilty of laughing at the punchlines!) was that the 40 yr old virgin fell in love on his own, and he kept himself a virgin up until he was married—which I highly respect! Very good ending! Amen to that.
I don’t recommend children to go to this movie… Again the 40 yr old virgin was a “good guy” and “saved” himself until he got married and married a very nice woman who “waited” for him. Also, he earned respect by his friends and they also learned to be monogomous. This movie is not a Christian movie but had a good ending.
Offensive / 4½
Desert Rose, age 40
Positive—Is “The 40 Year Old Virgin” a well made movie? Not really. Is it hilarious? Yes! I laughed throughout the entire movie. Certain scenes had me laughing so hard I cried. My husband and I went to see this several weeks after it was released and had the joy of watching it with a small, appreciative audience. Steve (of the Daily Show and currently the “Office”) was hilarious. From the opening scenes of him in his action figure clad home and tucking his pant leg into his sock to ride his bike, to the musical number that ended the movie, he was incredible.
I think that his friends give an accurate performance of people that you actually work with in the real world. We don’t all have the luxury of working at the church or the Christian school down the road (although I attended a Christian school from Kindergarten until I graduated, and the lanuage used in this film could be heard at the school on any given day).
I don’t think Steve’s (Andy) character is as innocent as everyone else who reviewed this favorably does. It shows throughout the movie that he was a virgin at this point because he was so bad with women, not because he really wanted to be. This movie is rated R. It’s not meant for children or the easily offended. If you let your children watch this, and then you can’t believe what’s in it and go around telling people how offensive it is, that’s your fault. You were warned. And to anyone who made a comparison to Porn, the stuff on late at night on Cinemax isn’t really porn, watch a porn movie and then compare the two.
Offensive / 4
I think that his friends give an accurate performance of people that you actually work with in the real world. We don’t all have the luxury of working at the church or the Christian school down the road (although I attended a Christian school from Kindergarten until I graduated, and the lanuage used in this film could be heard at the school on any given day).
I don’t think Steve’s (Andy) character is as innocent as everyone else who reviewed this favorably does. It shows throughout the movie that he was a virgin at this point because he was so bad with women, not because he really wanted to be. This movie is rated R. It’s not meant for children or the easily offended. If you let your children watch this, and then you can’t believe what’s in it and go around telling people how offensive it is, that’s your fault. You were warned. And to anyone who made a comparison to Porn, the stuff on late at night on Cinemax isn’t really porn, watch a porn movie and then compare the two.
Offensive / 4
Amber, age 26
Negative—This movie is not excactly what you call good. Don’t watch it. This movie was is SO awful that the only words that could explain the profanity in this movie is AWFUL!!
Extremely Offensive / 1
Extremely Offensive / 1
Adam Dioch, age 34
Negative—I went to this film thinking it would be a good laugh, but to my disappointment I was wrong. Very wrong! I really don’t know why I wasted my time on this movie. It was meant to be a comedy, but I didn’t find one thing funny. A lot of other people seem to think it was very funny, but I don’t see how they can laugh at such a film. The swearing and the pornography was very offensive to me. Just a awful movie. Don’t see it!
Very Offensive / 1
Very Offensive / 1
Deacon, age 24
Comments from young people
Negative—Any person that could come up with this filth is severely messed up in the head! I am a 17 year old virgin, and I will remain one until the day I say “I do!” I have never been so saddened by a movie preview in my life! There are children watching TV, and seeing this. What is wrong with people today? I am proud to say that I am a born-again Christian who is waiting for marriage to have sex!
Andi, age 17
Positive—…yes, this movie is extremely offensive—if you let it get to you. The humor is trashy and about as sexual as anything thus far is the industry. Some of it is funny enough, and some is too crude to laugh about, but overall the funny is funny. There is a few memorable jokes about the movie “Beautician and the Beast” and Jack Palance.
Steve Carrell’s character—Andy—is hilarious, and his virtues are righteous. His friends are all about getting sex. He sticks with his moral stance on having sex and saving himself—it pays off at the end. The movie is sexual, but extremely sweet, too. It’s by no means award-winning or too deeply profound, it just passes the time in an entertaining way.
This film is not at all suggested for people under the age of 17, and even then many over that age will probably not appreciate the movie for anything other than the sexual terms they hear. But, if you are an intelligent person who can handle sexual jokes, and are willing to see a movie that, allbeit in the finale, respects a stance on obstaining from sex until the union of marraige, then this movie is worth the ticket price.
Extremely Offensive/3
Steve Carrell’s character—Andy—is hilarious, and his virtues are righteous. His friends are all about getting sex. He sticks with his moral stance on having sex and saving himself—it pays off at the end. The movie is sexual, but extremely sweet, too. It’s by no means award-winning or too deeply profound, it just passes the time in an entertaining way.
This film is not at all suggested for people under the age of 17, and even then many over that age will probably not appreciate the movie for anything other than the sexual terms they hear. But, if you are an intelligent person who can handle sexual jokes, and are willing to see a movie that, allbeit in the finale, respects a stance on obstaining from sex until the union of marraige, then this movie is worth the ticket price.
Extremely Offensive/3
Andrew, age 17
Movie Critics
…A weak comedy with a provocative title… Technically, the movie looks more like television, with flat groupings of actors, high-key lighting and only a handful of sets.
Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter
…nostalgic, sentimental and wholly bawdy comedy that will make you laugh…
Bill Muller, The Arizona Republic
…Abhorrent… raunchy sex farce with a sweet center… full of shocking sexual discussion and over-the-top obscenity…
Movieguide
…The audience is assaulted by extremely graphic dialog and images designed to make one laugh but so obscene they should make one blush…
Brian Hughes, Preview Family Movie and TV Review
…balance between raunchy comedy and sweet, sweet love…
Allison Benedikt, Chicago Tribune
My Ratings: Extremely Offensive/1½