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Steve Carell, Catherine Keener, Paul Rudd, Romany Malco, Seth Rogan

Ahh the allure of losing your virginity. It seems that it is the only thing that men truly have in common with each other except Andy (Steve Carrell). Andy works at Smart-Tech and his life is pretty dull. His obsessions are video games, toy collecting and gourmet cooking all of which suggest he’s stuck in age 16 mode. When Andy’s new friends at Smart-Tech discover that he’s a virgin during a poker game, they’re bound and determined to help Andy score. There’s one complication—Andy’s already met the woman of his dreams divorced 40 something Trish (Catherne Keener in a terrific supporting role) who already has children. When Andy’s relationship with Trish takes off he’s conflicted about telling her about his lack of experience. ***

A very funny comedy which is, at its core, about fidelity, truthfulness and relationships “The 40 Year Old Virgin” isn’t for the faint of heart. The unrated version (which is the one I viewed on DVD) has about 17 minutes of additional footage which translates into more uses of nasty language than any truly funny scenes. Personally, I preferred the theatrical version which I felt had a bit more humanity in the comedy. Still, this film manages to tackle an issue that faces everyone at one point. Carrell (“Bruce Almighty”) gives a star making sweet performance as Andy. He’s ably supported by a terrific cast including Paul Rudd, Catherine Keener, Seth Rogen and other fine supporting players. ---

Clearly this bad boy has been around as the transfer looked a bit muddy but detail is very good throughout the movie. Flesh tones and colors appear to be fairly accurate although the image looked a bit flat. The images looked crisp. The 5.1 focuses mostly on the dialogue which isn’t a surprise given that it’s a comedy dependent on verbal wit to carry many of these scenes.

A whole bunch of extras for this release including six deleted scenes. We also to see a number of scenes where the actors did a bit of improv and extended scenes for “Advice from Mooj” and “Date-A-Palooza” that can be viewed with or without commentary. “Line-O-Rama” compares a number of different improvs performed by Paul Rudd, Seth Rogan and others trying to find the winning combination of funny lines. “My Dinner with Stormy” is a brief comedy bit with co-producer/cast member Seth Rogan meets porn star Stormy Daniels. Rogan asks her a series of questions as she gets increasingly more provocative. We also get the gag reel which, surprisingly, isn’t all that funny consiting of blown lines. The best bit though is the featurette where we get to see the all too real and painful waxing sequence. Shot from multiple angles since it was the real deal and a one-take shot (hey I’d only want to do it one time, too if that). It reassured me that waxing is NOT the way to go. ---

Although it may have a vulgar surface, “The 40 Year Old Virgin” has a heart of gold. Carrell plays Andy (every time I heard his name I kept thinking of the “Andy” from “Toy Story” don’t ask me why) with such a sweet demeanor that the over-the-top vulgarity (which is a hallmark of the unrated version and to a lesser extend the theatrical version) of the unrated version doesn’t detract from the humor of the film. Still, actually found the unrated version LESS funny than the R rated version. Sometimes you can have too much of a good thing (or vulgar thing in this case). Call me a prude but I’d stick with the rated version of the film because it’s just as funny but still has a bit of charm to it that eludes the unrated version of the film.