The 40-Year-Old Virgin
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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- You plant the seed and fuck the plant.
The 40-Year-Old Virgin is a 2005 comedy film written and directed by Judd Apatow and co-written by the film's lead star, Steve Carell, though the film itself features a great deal of improvised dialogue. It also stars Catherine Keener, Romany Malco, Seth Rogen (who was also the co-producer) and Paul Rudd, as well as featuring Leslie Mann (Apatow's wife) and Nancy Walls (Carell's wife) in small roles.
Plot
Andy Stitzer (Steve Carell) is the eponymous 40-year-old virgin. A very well-meaning, highly neurotic, somewhat stereotypical nerd, Andy lives alone, collects action figures, enjoys video games, framed a poster of eighties rock band Asia, and his social life seems to consist of watching Survivor with his elderly neighbours.
Andy works in the stockroom at an electronics store called SmartTech. His co-workers include the affable David (Paul Rudd), who is tormented by memories of his old girlfriend Amy (Mindy Kaling); the burly Cal (Seth Rogen), a novelist and stoner; and Jay (Romany Malco), a self-styled ladies' man. When a friend drops out of a poker game, they reluctantly invite the withdrawn Andy to join them. Andy turns out to be surprisingly good at poker due to his playing the game online, but when the conversations turns to past sexual exploits, they quickly realize Andy is still a virgin, and resolve to help him lose his virginity.
Andy is at first reluctant to go along with them, but after a heartfelt talk with David, he agrees to give it a try. The gang’s efforts prove to be unsuccessful. They take Andy to a bar, where Jay advises him to hit on drunk women, but this backfires when the girl Andy leaves with drives the two of them home drunk, wrecks the car, and vomits on him. Jay recommends that Andy get his chest waxed, but Andy finds it so painful that he leaves halfway through (Steve Carell actually had his chest hair removed during the scene and stated in an interview on Australia's Rove Live that the scene was unnecessarily painful because the waxers forgot to oil his nipples.). David gives Andy his "big box of porn" to help him "loosen up" sexually, but to no avail and later they all go to a speed dating lunch, with no success, and at which David encounters ex-girlfriend Amy, sending him into a downward spiral of depression. Later, Cal advises Andy to be mysterious when talking to women, which results in Beth (Elizabeth Banks), a bookstore clerk, taking a liking to Andy. Andy starts to open up and true friendships begin to form with his co-workers, Andy impresses his boss, Paula (Jane Lynch), with his salesmanship and she promotes him to floor manager.
Eventually, after Jay hires Andy a prostitute who turns out to be a transvestite, Andy tells them that he is taking matters into his own hands, and he lands a date with Trish Piedmont (Catherine Keener), a mother of three who works in a store across the street from SmartTech. It is later revealed that one of Trish's kids has a kid too, making Trish a "hot grandma" according to Cal. Andy and Trish's first date goes well, and they almost end up having sex, but Andy can't figure out how to use a condom, and they are interrupted by Trish’s teenage daughter Marla (Kat Dennings) outraged at the fact that her mother is allowed to have sex, yet she isn't. On their next date, Andy decides to tell Trish he is a virgin, but just before he does so, she suggests that they postpone having sex, to which Andy enthusiastically agrees; they decide they won’t have sex until their twentieth date. Meanwhile, David's brush with Amy prompts him to become unstable and eventually resort to celibacy, citing Andy as an inspiration, while Jay’s girlfriend breaks up with him when she finds out he’s been cheating on her, leading him to an argument with an obnoxious customer. Andy comforts Jay who reveals his breakup with Jill and advises Andy that sex can ruin a relationship.
Jay's girlfriend realizes she is pregnant and takes him back; and Cal hires an attractive young woman named Bernadette to work in the stockroom in order to lure David out of celibacy.
Andy and Trish’s relationship is a strong one, with Trish even convincing Andy to sell his precious collectible action figures in order to raise enough money to open his own store. While at work, Andy is promoted to floor manager because of his surprising talents as a salesman. Things are going well until Andy and Trish finally reach the twentieth date, at which point Andy panics and they have a big argument which ends with him storming out. He turns up at a nightclub where Jay is celebrating his girlfriend’s pregnancy, and proceeds to get very drunk. Cal walks over and asks Andy how many drinks he has had to which Andy replies, "How many pots have you smoked?". Andy runs into Beth at the bar, and they leave for her apartment. Meanwhile, David finally relinquishes his celibacy and hooks up with Bernadette, and Trish’s daughter Marla (who found out that Andy is a virgin) convinces her to go and make up with Andy.
At Beth’s apartment, while she gets in the bathtub and proceeds to masturbate with a vibrating shower head, Andy sobers up and starts to have second thoughts. Then, his three friends arrive at the apartment to talk him out of it, so he leaves with them to make up with Trish (although Cal stays behind to hook up with Beth). When Andy gets home, he finds Trish waiting for him; she has found his big box of porn, and now considers Andy to be some sort of sexual deviant, and leaves in disgust. Andy chases her car on his bike (to the music of “Heat of the Moment” by Asia), and gets involved in an accident which results in him being thrown through a two sided billboard truck and landing on the road in front of traffic. She rushes to his side in concern, and he finally confesses to her that he is a virgin. She realizes this is why he has been acting so strangely, and they kiss.
They end up getting married with everyone in attendance, with a sidelong mention of Andy's action figures having sold for a total of half a million dollars, and finally consummate their relationship on their wedding night. Andy finally loses his virginity with Trish in their hotel room. The film ends with an over-the-top Hair-style musical scene in which the cast of the film sing and dance to the song “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In”.
