Hold up, Answer this question...

With the release of Jennifer Lawrences’ new comedy No Hard Feelings we wanted to take this opportunity to talk about our favorite sex comedies.

Author

Tyler Clark
June 19, 2023

Good morning Consumers. This is Please Consume, the Film newsletter that loves you more than Ben Affleck loves being from Boston.

The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005)

With the release of Jennifer Lawrences’ new comedy No Hard Feelings we wanted to take this opportunity to talk about our favorite sex comedies.

Often when we think about sex comedies we think about the American Pie sequels of having a goofy tone to the films but are really more there to titillate you.

But a sex comedy at its best are movies that bring the laughs and mock the strange pastime that we call sex.

And with that in mind, to kick off this week let’s talk about the sexiest type of person… 40 Year-Old-Virgins.

The Fulcrum Point

This film is an honest-to-God game changer in 21st-century American comedies.

From its incredible cast like Paul Rudd and Jane Lynch, to bit players who walk in and deliver excellent performances like Kevin Hart and future Cocaine Bear director Elizabeth Banks.

But it also saved the careers of three men: Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen, and Steve Carrell.

Starting with Apatow and Rogen, they had both just come off two excellent but completely underperforming sitcoms: Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared.

Apatow behind the camera and Rogen in front of it made for a fantastic product, but for some reason Freaks and Geeks struggled to grow its audience at the time while Undeclared never really found its fanbase.

Freaks and Geeks was an especially notorious bomb. Seth Rogen tells a story of how when he was in pre production with Apatow on The 40 Year-Old-Virgin he went to a speed dating event to get a feel for an upcoming scene that involved it. A woman recognized him and tried to console him because in her mind she saw him as a failed sitcom star popping up at speed dating events.

The boys needed a win and that’s what they got. The 40-Year-Old Virgin was such a hit it saved The Office. Seriously, the release of this film turned Carrell into a superstar and got eyes on his show.

The movie also made the writers reevaluate Michael Scott as a character which is why when you see him in season 2 he gets a major upgrade both in terms of how he looks and also in how he acts; silly but more likable.

They tapped into Carrell’s inherent sweetness and rode that train all the way to the bank..

The Sketch That Started it All

Apatow is known nowadays for making movies with stand-up comics who have a great bit or a pitch for a screenplay that Apatow could direct the crap out of.

This technique of his is nothing new. This film is actually inspired by an old sketch Carrell did at Second City in Chicago. He did a sketch about a 40-Year-Old Virgin that actually ended up in the film and is also our clip for today.

It’s the poker scene.

It’s funny and hard to watch in all the best ways. Hope you enjoy!

Today’s Scene

Stream It

If you want to watch  The 40 Year Old Virgin at home, you can find it here.