Scene Anatomy 101 04.30.08: The 40-Year-Old Virgin
Posted by George H. Sirois on 04.30.2008
The Star Wars Trilogy of Comedy: Part 2 of 3…
Every now and then, a movie comes around that gets everything right. It's an original film so there's no other source of material of which to compare it. It's a comedy, which is the most often used genre in film due to its lower budgets and universal appeal. It introduces its audience to a group of actors and writers that immediately grab our attention with their intelligence and wit. It's wonderfully written with a perfect mixture of sight gags and great dialogue. And most importantly, it's got heart, characters you care about and a story that everyone can relate to.
So without further ado, it's time to bring one of those rare films into the ranks of Scene Anatomy 101, the second of our "Star Wars Trilogy of Comedy" and the 2005 Judd Apatow hit film…
This is my personal favorite of the three films, due to every reason I mentioned in the opening paragraph. Based on the premise alone, I knew I was going to enjoy this film, and that confidence was only enhanced by the clips I had seen on various talk shows and in the commercials and trailers. Being a virgin at age 40 was a HUGE fear of mine when I had graduated from high school and went through my first semester of college. (Thankfully that was the last time I had to fear it.)
Plus, knowing that there was going to be a group of colleagues that were going to give the main character Andy Stitzer (Steve Carell, who co-wrote the screenplay) different advice on how to get past his personal obstacles. God knows I had my share of friends who went out of their way to give me advice, before, during and after college. So yeah, there was a lot of personal baggage that I brought into the theater with me and that only helped to enhance the enjoyment I had watching this.
It was very difficult for me to point out one specific scene that shows why I love this film so much, but considering how I want to tie The 40-Year-Old Virgin in with Superbad and next week's film Knocked Up, it's only right that I break down a scene involving Seth Rogen. This week, he continues the role of mentor, only in a much more direct manner and his status in this film has changed from a supporting character in a subplot to a character in the main ensemble.
This particular scene takes place right after the infamous chest-waxing sequence. At first we see that Andy has taken the wrong person's advice when he listens to Jay (Romany Malco) about how he needs to get the hair off his chest. The whole incident becomes a total fiasco as Andy almost loses a nipple when the wax strip is ripped off, and Andy's shirt becomes blood-stained.
One of the guys who came along for the waxing session was Cal (Seth Rogen), and he feels especially sorry for Andy. Not only for what he just went through, but for how Cal consistently avoided him during their time at Smart-Tech together. So while Cal and Andy are bringing out a large piece of equipment to a customer's car, Cal takes this moment to hopefully smooth things over with Andy.
CAL: Andy, I owe you an apology, man. I wasn't very nice to you for the past two-and-a-half years.
ANDY: You were nice to me.
CAL: No, I was… I thought you were really boring and… I kind of thought you were a serial killer.
Andy laughs as they continue carrying the large box. Andy's never thought of himself as weird in any way, so he never thought he would come off as a serial killer. Cal must be joking with him, right?
CAL: I'm not joking.
Guess not. This line actually comes back later on in the film when Trish (Catherine Keener) suspects Andy was going to kill her because of his "odd behavior."
Andy suddenly loses his grip on the box, and it hits the ground hard. The customer is rightly a little freaked out by this.
CUSTOMER: Hey!
Andy quickly picks up his end of the box, trying to minimize the possible damage done. Cal, on the other hand, doesn't give a damn about the item. God knows how many customers have had their brand new equipment busted all to hell because of his "assistance."
ANDY: Sorry, shoot. Sorry, sorry.
CAL: Don't worry. There's a lot of padding in these. I could hurl it off the balcony, it could be fine.
ANDY: Yeah, it will be fine.
CAL: We couldn't break this if we tried.
Jay and Andy resume their journey to the woman's car. As they continue carrying the item, Cal tries to remind Andy of how listening to Dave (Paul Rudd) resulted getting puked on by a drunk driver and how listening to Jay made him bleed.
CAL: Look, you shouldn't listen to Dave and Jay, okay? These guys are crazy. You should listen to me, okay?
Before Andy can say anything, they come up to the window of a bookstore in their same complex. A blonde girl in her late 20s is putting some books away in the store's main window. Cal nods in her direction.
CAL: Look, there is a hot-ass girl who works right there. There she is, in the bookstore. You should ask her out, man.
Andy watches the girl bend over, showing off the top of her thong.
ANDY: Something wrong with her underpants.
CAL: Yeah, they're not in my mouth.
Well played, Cal. Andy nods over in the direction of the "We Sell Your Stuff on eBay" store.
ANDY: You know, I kind of… like the woman from the eBay store.
While this back and forth is still going on, keep in mind that they're still holding this large and heavy piece of electronic equipment and the customer is standing right there listening to everything they're saying.
CAL: That's great, but you're not gonna get with anyone unless you play the odds on this one, man. You need to plant a lot of seeds.
We cut to Andy and Cal finally putting the equipment into the back of the customer's car. There's a little crash heard as it is put in there. Cal accepts the cash given to him as a tip by the customer and continues his lesson to Andy.
CAL: It's like this. When I was growing pot, I realized that the more seeds I planted, the more pot I could ultimately smoke.
Andy's head is practically spinning with all three of his friends cramming as much "advice" into his head as possible. This is his second attempt to break free from the grip that Cal, Dave and Jay have him in, but Cal's not going to let him get away so easily.
ANDY: I think I have all the advice I can handle right now.
CAL: Don't get bitter.
ANDY: I'm not bitter. I almost lost a nipple, okay?
CAL: That was Jay's idea, okay? And I wasn't going to say anything, but waxing your chest is… like the gayest thing you could possibly do, okay? Look at me. Looks are not important. Really, look at me. I am ugly as fuck by traditional standards, but I get with women. Aren't you curious as to how that's possible?
ANDY: I am not ugly as fuck!
CAL: I didn't say you were ugly as…
ANDY: Well, you implied it.
CAL: Okay, okay. It doesn't matter if you're ugly as fuck or ugly as shit! It's about talking to women and I know how to do that because I observe, because I am a novelist.
In case any of this dialogue is new to you, it's because this is from one of the many scenes in the Unrated edition. For the most part, I prefer the R-rated version since the pace is a bit faster and scenes don't go on and on while the actors are improvising. But this scene works since we get a better look at Cal that we never had before, and we also have a peek at what he aims to do in life.
ANDY: What? You never told me that before.
CAL: That's because I am not an arrogant prick, Andy. Okay, the problem that most men have is that they don't know how to talk to women.
Andy takes all of this in, but his own insecurities come running up to the surface. For all of his adult life, all he's had are the things that interest him and he hasn't had to worry about trying to appeal to anyone else. The problem is that he's resulted in being someone whose life is all about not appealing to anyone else, at least as far as he believes.
ANDY: You know what my problem is? I'm not interesting. What am I supposed to say? "I went to magic camp?" "I'm an accomplished ventriloquist?" "I am a seventh-degree imperial yo-yo master." "Ohhh, do me yo-yo master! I want you to do me, because you're the yo-yo guy!"
Cal nods and immediately disregards everything that Andy had been venting about.
CAL: Are you done? Listen. The problem that most men have is that they just plain straight up have no clue how to talk to women.
Enough talk, enough of Andy feeling sorry for himself. It's time to immediately put Cal's words of advice to action. They go inside the bookstore and Cal continues his new role as mentor to this older man who's lived life a lot less than him.
CAL: Just ask a question, okay? That's it. Because women do not care about what you have to say at all anyway, you know? And all they want to do is talk about themselves. So you're just gonna let them do that.
Andy nods, he's starting to get a little nervous like he's about to step off a cliff. Cal gives him one last pep talk, with a suggestion that he's sure Andy will understand.
CAL: Okay. So remember. Questions, be cool, and be kind of a dick. Here, be David Caruso in Jade.
Andy nods.
ANDY: Okay, I know exactly what you're talking about.
CAL: You do. That's good.
Cal leads Andy over to where the girl is nearby. He points her out and sends the young older man on his way.
CAL: There she is. Go plant that seed, man. Plant it with your finger.
Andy walks over to the girl, who we will later know as Beth (Elizabeth Banks). She is checking one of the shelves and Andy walks up to her, looking back and forth between the shelf and her.
Beth notices him and offers her assistance.
BETH: Can I help you?
Heeding Cal's advice, Andy answers a question with a question. He takes one step towards her.
ANDY: I don't know, can you?
Beth hesitates before offering her assistance yet again.
BETH: Are you looking for something?
And once again, Andy does as he is instructed.
ANDY: Is there something I should be looking for?
Beth smiles and nods.
BETH: Well, we have a lot of books, so maybe it depends on what you like.
Once again, Andy responds with his own question. We can see with his body language that he's starting to get a little comfortable with this kind of conversation. He puts his hand up on the bookshelf and takes a more relaxed stance.
ANDY: What do you like?
Beth again struggles for an answer, but starts to let her guard down. She has no idea what to make of Andy, and that of course makes him pretty attractive.
BETH: We… have a great selection of… do-it-yourself.
Andy follows that setup like an old pro.
ANDY: Do you like to do-it-yourself?
Beth starts to laugh nervously, becoming more fascinated with this guy in front of her, and lets her guard down even more.
BETH: Sometimes. I mean… if the mood strikes.
Andy throws out another question. The entire conversation, he hasn't given a single statement. Everything has been a question, and with this new twisted style of talking, he's gotten a girl more interested in him than he ever has before.
ANDY: How is the mood striking you now?
Beth laughs again, and Andy laughs in response.
BETH: What's your name?
Andy responds with another question. Cal is incredibly impressed.
ANDY: What's your name?
Beth points to the nametag over her breast.
BETH: I'm… Beth.
Andy points down at his badge on the lanyard around his neck.
ANDY: Andy.
Beth walks up to him and smiles.
BETH: Don't tell on me, okay, Andy?
Finally, Andy gives a response without giving another question. All of a sudden, not only does he know how to "properly" talk to a girl, but he also knows when to end the conversation.
ANDY: I won't. Unless you want to be told on… Beth.
Beth is completely stunned as Andy calmly walks away. As soon as he is out of view, he starts walking a little faster. He almost has to gasp for air as Cal leads him out of the store.
ANDY: Wow! That totally worked! I literally said nothing, and she found me fascinating!
CAL: I would've thought you were doing that for years.
ANDY: Should I have asked her out?
CAL: No! No, that's the key! You wait for it to grow into a plant, and then you FUCK the plant!
This scene is perfectly placed right after Andy gets his chest waxed, which took place soon after he almost died in a compact car. We see Andy accepting Dave's invitation to go out and have some beers with the guys, and later we see him following Jay's advice to get rid of the "wolfman" look and turn himself into a "man-o-lantern" by leaving the waxing session before his whole chest is ripped apart.
But then, there's Cal. While he's gotten a lot of amusement out of watching Andy go home with the drunkest girl at the bar and hearing the most vile obscenities from his mouth as his nipple is almost torn off, he is also biding his time until he gets Andy away from Jay and Dave to give his advice. It's a lesson that requires the lowest amount of risk, and yet it presents the greatest reward. All Andy has to do is change the way he talks to a girl and just like that, someone has the hots for him without knowing a damn thing about him.
Just like what we saw with Officers Michaels and Slater looking after Fogell and helping him become a man, in The 40-Year-Old Virgin we see Seth Rogen playing another character that offers the most effective advice and becoming the best possible mentor for Andy. At least until Andy can figure things out for himself, Cal has done his job.
But what happens when Seth Rogen evolves into the lead character in a film? If he's the one who gives the best advice, who's going to be there to give the advice to him? How's he going to find his way if nobody's going to be available to point him in the right direction? Maybe he's going to have to figure it out for himself, which is what we're going to see in next week's edition of Scene Anatomy 101.
