The 40-Year-Old Virgin

The 40-Year-Old Virgin is the film that launched the Apatow empire and proved that R-rated comedy could be both outrageously raunchy and genuinely heartfelt. Steve Carell plays Andy Stitzer, a 40-year-old electronics store employee who has never had sex — not because he is incapable, but because a series of humiliating early experiences made him retreat into a comfortable, isolated life of action figures and video games.

Carell's performance is miraculous. He makes Andy completely believable — not a creep, not a loser, but a kind, gentle man who simply missed a developmental milestone and built his life around the absence. The waxing scene — where Carell's chest hair was ripped out for real — is the most painful comedy scene ever filmed. His reactions are genuine, and the other actors' laughter is unscripted. It is both hilarious and excruciating.

The supporting cast — Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, Romany Malco — improvised extensively, and Apatow used the best takes to create a workplace comedy within the romantic comedy. The film's message — that there is nothing wrong with being different, that love comes when you stop trying to be someone you are not — is delivered without sentimentality. The 'Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In' finale is the most joyful ending in modern comedy. Apatow proved that audiences would sit through a 116-minute comedy if every minute was funny and the characters were worth caring about.