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'The 40 Year-Old Virgin': Gotta love this innocent sap

Gleefully schizophrenic, the new independent comedy The 40 Year-Old Virgin wants to have it both ways. It wants to wallow in bodily fluid jokes and make fun of a grown man's unwanted abstinence; then it concludes with the message that the best sex is with someone you love, preferably after marriage.

Oh, and along the way, the movie also manages to be quite funny. Maybe not funny enough to justify its almost two-hour running time, but funny nevertheless.

Universal Pictures 'The 40 Year-Old Virgin' B The verdict: Virginity as a social liability proves to be a funny, if single-joke, premise. Director: Judd Apatow Starring: Steve Carell, Catherine Keener, Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, Romany Malco Release date: August 19, 2005 Rating: R for pervasive sexual content, language and some drug use. See showtimes On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime Rate "The 40 Year-Old Virgin"   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

The title character is bachelor Andy Stitzer, an electronics superstore inventory clerk who has yet to cross the sexual Rubicon. Still, he is relatively content, living alone in his garden apartment surrounded by his extensive collection of still-boxed action figures and his video games. Yes, Andy (Steve Carell, a former supporting player on TV's The Daily Show) has a bad case of arrested development, but he is likable enough that we soon find ourselves rooting for him to lose what he never went looking for in the first place.

His fellow store clerks have a feeling Andy is a little odd, but they learn how much one night over a game of poker, when they swap tales of their sexual exploits, and Andy has nothing to contribute to the discussion. So David (Paul Rudd), Jay (Romany Malco) and Cal (Seth Rogen) take it upon themselves to coach Andy in the mysterious ways of women and how he can get one to go to bed with him.

Of course, the joke is that the three of them are equally clueless about women. and their Neanderthal advice is not the least bit helpful. Fortunately, Trish (Catherine Keener), a store owner from across the street who stocks items for sale only on eBay — a forced gag that never really works — meets Andy and gives him her phone number, and a tentative romance ensues. Having chosen mates badly before, Trish wants to hold off consummating their relationship, which panicked Andy is only too happy to agree to.

The 40-Year-Old Virgin, while written by Carell with first-time director Judd Apatow, has the feeling of improvisational sketch comedy, both in the episodic nature of the storyline and in the under-edited looseness of the film's pace.

Still, some of the comic ideas are inspired, notably a painfully funny scene in which Andy tries to rid himself of his chest hair with a wax treatment sadistically administered by a giggly Miki Mia. When David offers him his prized collection of pornographic videotapes, Andy has an awkward evening's date with himself. And thanks to Carell's innocent touch, a sequence of Andy's first inept encounter with condoms proves amusing. Only a challenge match between David and Cal over "You know how I know you're gay?" jokes seems mean-spirited, though completely in character.

Carell looks to have a promising film career, even if only playing variations on this inept, but appealing dweeb. Indie fixture Keener seems well-matched with him, which is chemically crucial to the movie working. Also assets in minor roles are Elizabeth Banks (Heights) as a sexual predator who becomes smitten with Andy's inadvertent flirting technique, and Jane Lynch (Best in Show) as his horny store manager, who does one heck of a Guatemalan serenade.

Along with the recent Wedding Crashers, The 40-Year-Old Virgin is bringing back R-rated comedy. As an option, it should be welcomed, as long as the bodily fluid jokes are not excessive and the movie heads to as sweet a wrap-up as it does here.