The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005) -versus- American Pie (1999)

Review by Bryce Zabel 

Our face-off pits two movies against each other, both of which have distinguished themselves as vehicles where men are desperate to lose their viriginity.  The 40-Year-Old Virgin finds Andy Stitzer (Steve Carell) being encouraged by his work buddies to get with the program.  American Pie finds four high school seniors making a pact to get laid by the end of the school year, notably focusing on Jim (Jason Biggs) and his practice relationship with an apple pie.

"Uh, guys... tell me again why sex is worth this?"

Let's just start with a simple fact. Both films are very funny but, despite their common goals, for different reasons. The 40-Year-Old Virgin is the funniest of the two. I think it's because we are actually care more for Steve Carell's Andy than Jason Biggs's Jim. One guy is, well, 40, and the other guy is 18. It's the difference between time running out and all the possibilities of life still being ahead of you.

People were screaming with laughter in the theater where I saw The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Honestly, I haven't experienced this kind of mass hysteria in a theater since seeing Meet the Parents which had people laughing so hard they were drowning out some of the jokes. Virgin is still a pretty crude sex comedy -- it yields no ground to Pie on that score -- but it is also surprisingly insightful with a good heart and a lead character I really liked. Many of the laughs in Pie come from simply being shocked that somebody could be that gross or that overly sexual in a film comedy about high school kids.

I'm not a prude. I mean, I went to both these films and laughed my ass off. But Virgin is about a guy with a real problem that is holding him back from a complete life. Pie is about casual sex for teenagers. I have real teenagers. Sex is not a casual topic for them or for me.

The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Because I'm honestly rooting for Andy Stitzer to get it on with the woman of his dreams but if these four high school seniors from American Pie don't get laid this year, the chances are excellent their inexperience won't last through the first year of college.