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The 40-Year-Old Virgin poster

The 40-Year-Old Virgin

year 2005decade 00sdirector Judd Apatowgenre Comedygenre Romance

116 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Steve Carell Andy Stitzer
Catherine Keener Trish Piedmont
Paul Rudd David
Leslie Mann Nicky
Jane Lynch Paula
Kat Dennings Marla Piedmont
Mo Collins Gina
David Koechner Father at the health clinic
Jonah Hill Customer at Trish's store
Kevin Hart Smart Tech customer
Stormy Daniels Porn star

The 40-Year-Old Virgin | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Sean Fennesseyhost Chris Ryan format 15th Anniversary
Explore episodeClose episode

Producer credits not yet identified.

Most Rewatchable Scene

Poker game

In the discussion (18)
Approx. transcript time · 00:31:55Read transcript
  • The opening store scene does a lot, with Seth Rogen's story about a Tijuana show featuring a woman and a horse, which turned out not as cool as it sounds.
  • Paul Rudd accosting Jane Lynch over the Michael McDonald DVD, ending with the 'Yamo burn this place to the ground' line; the speaker's son got bored about 40 minutes in but watched that bit on YouTube over and over.
  • The same DVD played over and over in the store is very real to anyone who has worked retail.
  • The poker game feels like an SNL sketch; the line about a breast feeling like a bag of sand makes it the speaker's personal favorite scene.
  • The Leslie Mann scene is bonkers, the only unrealistically unhinged scene, but in a good way.
  • The body-waxing scene was like Caddyshack's Baby Ruth scene coming out of the theater.
  • The hosts say the waxing was done for real with five cameras and an actress as the waxer, so the nipple was not oiled and his right nipple was ravaged; it was really Carell's chest, and they had to keep waxing it for later shirtless scenes.
  • Paul Rudd bringing over a big box of porn and the Boner Jams '03 mix tape, followed by the Everybody Loves Raymond tape; Boner Jams '03 is called the favorite line in the movie.
  • The speed dating scene is really good, with Mo Collins's character flagged to come up later for the Dion Waiters category.
  • Andy's first date call to Catherine Keener while the others do 'you know how I know you're gay', which has not aged well in some ways but is Rudd and Rogen cooking.
  • The support group scene and Seth with his dad, who berates him about his little Jew fro.
  • The ending, where losing his virginity turns into a musical number with the whole cast, is called a really good choice and credited to Gary Shandling because they couldn't figure out the ending.
  • A special shout-out goes to the extended version of the Kevin Hart and Malco scene, compared to Clemens and Cecil Fielder going toe to toe; the lister agrees and had it in what's aged the best.
  • Andy following Rogen's character's tips in the bookstore: the just-ask-questions bit, the 'be David Caruso in Jade' advice, then the best line in the movie and the 90-second seduction by Elizabeth Banks.
  • The David Caruso in Jade reference may have aged best or worst, since producer Craig would not know what Jade was.
  • Formal pick: the poker game, because it is perfectly written.
  • A second voice agrees the poker game is the most iconic now: the chest waxing was, but the bag-of-sand line is the one quoted back.
  • It fits the movie because the other guys' sex talk makes sex seem gross and foreign, so Andy's choice to stay home with his electronic drum kit seems understandable.

What’s Aged the Best?

The title; Kat Dennings; the poster; the loaded cast; Michael McDonald credits apology; Six Million Dollar Man action-figure reference; opening credits; smoking pot out of an apple; Lionel Richie 'Hello' scene; condom scene; Seth Rogen's shirts; the music; Stormy Daniels

In the discussion (15)
Approx. transcript time · 00:45:20Read transcript
  • A great title that tells you everything about the movie in five words and is also funny; it made a great poster.
  • The cast is loaded with 12 people who became part of a comedy renaissance.
  • Michael McDonald and Best Buy; the credits apologize to him so as not to hurt his feelings.
  • Kat Dennings: a sarcastic 15-year-old daughter who is not a wet blanket, in a role that often goes wrong; she went on to a hit sitcom, and her 'no car and does magic' line is compared to D from What's Happening.
  • The action figures, including Oscar from the $6 million man, are a stealth mid-70s TV reference.
  • Opening credits that actually try, rather than running graphics of names.
  • Smoking pot out of an apple, which Rogen seems to have really done.
  • The Lionel Richie 'Hello' masturbation scene, a home run in 2005 though maybe lost on anyone under 25, is put in both aged best and aged worst.
  • The condom scene, where he goes through 10 condoms, the daughter and boyfriend walk in, and the boyfriend asks to be taught.
  • Seth Rogen's shirts: Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Public Enemy and Liquid Swords.
  • The music: a Joe Walsh song over the opening credits, Asia in the chase sequence, and Age of Aquarius.
  • Stormy Daniels is offered as one more pick. — Chris Ryan
  • She has a talking scene and a nude scene; a joke that she later brought down the president is immediately walked back.
  • Final pick: the title, with Kat Dennings second.
  • Another voice likes the title pick and the poster, calling it a perfect sale of a movie to an audience.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Lionel Richie 'Hello' scene; eBay-store collectibles novelty; dead tech such as VHS porn collections, VCRs, recordable CDs and the VHS DVD dual player; the 'you know how I know you're gay' running bit

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 00:48:33Read transcript
  • The Lionel Richie 'Hello' scene is put in both aged best and aged worst.
  • A personal pick: Get Out ruined Catherine Keener, whose tea-stirring character makes her creepy in all her earlier films; the speaker admits it is personal and unfair.
  • Pushback: Keener is amazing and oddball enough that she and Andy work, with her weird eBay store.
  • The eBay store and collectibles trend felt new in 2005; the speaker recalls a column around 2000 about finding a vintage Patriots jersey and hunting cards and uncut sheets, before 20 years of nerd collector culture.
  • So much dead tech makes it a full period piece: a big box of porn tapes, buying a VCR, recordable CDs and the VHS DVD dual player.
  • Porn collections on VHS and everything VHS; you can't even buy a VHS player now except on eBay.
  • The running 'you know how I know you're gay' theme would not play in 2020, though it is essential to how the characters interact.
  • The gay panic joke has not aged well; per a DVD commentary, the scene was supposed to be Rudd's character describing ways he would kill himself before an improvised pivot, so a well-known scene was never in the script.
  • Rudd's character's obsession with his ex, played by Mindy Kaling, at the dating event makes him a stalker and a dirtbag.

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:55:03Read transcript
  • It is one guy: the older Indian co-worker, whose stats are surprisingly good and who brings the heat.
  • His real name is Jerry Bednob; spotted on a TV procedural you would just recognize him by his character's name, the definition of that guy.

The Ruffalo / Hanna / Rubinek / Partridge Overacting Award

No affirmative selection

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:55:52Read transcript
  • Elizabeth Banks dials it up, though it is in the script; she is called worthy, but it is hard to give the award in a comedy.
  • She is doing the 50s-and-60s sexpot comic character of Marilyn Monroe and Jane Mansfield, not far from Singing in the Rain.
  • Asked about Leslie Mann: 'You could', but both performances are exactly what they should be, and it is hard to give this to comedies because doing it is doing it right.

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:56:56Read transcript

Apex Mountain

Steve Carell; Catherine Keener; Six Million Dollar Man action figures; Malco; Asia's ironic phase

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 01:02:52Read transcript
  • Steve Carell, definitely: the movie becomes a smash hit and he has The Office, the pinnacle of anyone's comedy career.
  • Apatow is a no, to be litigated later; one could argue Knocked Up.
  • Catherine Keener: after a decade as a respected indie actress peaking in 8mm, a smash hit makes this as good as it gets; she was also in Capote that year as Harper Lee, which is called a good call.
  • Virgins in general prompt jokes about Last American Virgin, a Virgin Week with Last Temptation of Christ and A Midnight Clear, and making Craig watch with Liz; that movie ends with James Ingram.
  • The Six Million Dollar Man action figures are definitely at Apex Mountain.
  • Paul Rudd is first a no, but he gets praise: Brian Fantana in Anchorman, carrying stretches of this movie, his SmartTech meltdown and his souls-connected poker speech; one voice says you could make the case this is his Apex.
  • Counter: Ant Man, from about 2014 or 2015, was great and a huge hit; the other host just doesn't like comic book movies and is teased about Munich.
  • Malco: 'Yeah. Has to be.'
  • Tech stores like Best Buy are raised as an Apex for that era; the reply calls it one of the speaker's unanswerable questions, with SmartTech badly run like a Boston chain and Circuit City, stores run by jackasses, as with Vince Vaughn's character in Old School.
  • Asia's ironic phase: not the band's Apex, since the speaker says they won four or five Grammys one year, but the move into ironic 'Heat of the Moment' appreciation 20 years later; the hosts joke they are already in their own ironic phase.

Who Won the Movie?

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:12:23Read transcript
  • Carell and Apatow are the first calls, followed by a request to make the case.
  • Case for Apatow: a respected writer-producer not yet considered a comedy auteur, this kicked off 10 years of him at the center of American movie comedy, minted stars, earned critical respect, and the movie itself has aged well.
  • Agreement: Apatow was a high lottery pick whose shows, including Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared, were canceled, and this became a massive hit that minted people and set up a comedy revolution begun with Anchorman.
  • Carell's success probably would have happened anyway because The Office became a phenomenon.
  • Counterpoint on Carell: the movie's success may have given The Office runway, with a blockbuster star going back to TV like a reverse Caruso.
  • Producer Craig is asked for his pick; the reply is transcribed as 'Hamilton's probably the right call', which is unresolved, and he is teased as a brown-noser.
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Judd Apatow
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Judd Apatow
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