comment #1

breadlymoore says ...

You're quoting an AICN review that's ten months early?

Jeff, buddy, this guy is on the Universal payroll.

Why does the media still take AICN seriously?

comment #2

jesse says ...

Some of Apatow's best work was on the TV shows Freaks & Geeks and Undeclared, which ran in 99-00, and 01-02, if I remember correctly, which puts his "cleverness" (and his great eye for casting, and his ability to oversee productive, often hilarious improv, and, yes, the actual heart present in all of his recent work) more recently than some kind of nebulous "in the '90s" timeframe.

I do have a few misgivings about 40-Year-Old Virgin; it's overlong, mainly, and I'm afraid that Apatow will continue to lean too heavily on the R rating that he couldn't, obviously, work with on TV. R-rated comedies are fine, and it worked especially well for a smart sex comedy, but I hope he doesn't make Knocked Up gratuitous just because he can.

You can try to paint Apatow's fans as fat, mouth-breathing, shorts-wearers, Jeff, but I guarantee you just as many frat boys (if not more) adore your beloved (and far more uneven, and -- at its worst -- offensive) Wedding Crashers just as much. I can also guarantee you that Apatow has a lot of fans more like me -- a comedy nerd and fan good writing, as well Apatow's Freaks & Geeks/Undeclared cast, who doesn't even own a videogame system.

comment #3

Aguirre says ...

Jeff, I think this is PARTICULARLY unfair of you. You may, as a member of Generation V, find it difficult to recall that Virgin was rapturously received by the critical community at large (including awards-season recognition from AFI and others, for whatever that's worth...). I might not argue that the film deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Manhattan, but to attack and falsely characterize the millions of people that adore this film is irresponsible. Unless, of course, your transition into the blogosphere has prompted you to abandon your journalistic integrity for unfounded low-brow sensationalism. I get that you write from your gut, but your gut has seen better days.

comment #4

Aguirre says ...

Oh, also, good point Jesse. Jeff spontaneously came about 6 times during the first 2/3 of the vastly inferior Wedding Crashers, a small-minded and haphazard comedy with half the laughs and none of the heart of Virgin. So... this column is even more absurd.

comment #5

Jesse Perry says ...

I agree with the tastefully named Jesse up above . . . In fact, I recall Jeff posting a quote I sent in regarding James Franco's overlooked work on Freaks & Geeks.

I also agree that 40-Year Old Virgin, especially the "director's cut", is way overlong. I love most of that movie, but I'll take HBO's airing of the theatrical cut to the DVD version any day of the week.

comment #6

BHay says ...

Jeff's description of "a not-very-worldly GenX monkey who probably has a beefy physique and wears cutoffs and cross-trainer shoes with no socks and plays video games with his 33 year-old buddies" definitely better describes "Wedding Crashers" fans than those who appreciate Apatow. Comedy professionals and comedy nerds love Apatow and in no way fit that description. "Wedding Crashers," on the other hand, is a frat boy movie, full of attitude and smugness but very few actual jokes.

comment #7

storymark says ...

Wedding Crashers was easily the most over-rated comedy of the last several years, no matter how bad Jeff has it for Rachel McAdams.

I've only seen the DC of 40YOV, and I did think it was a little long, but it didn't really bother me.

comment #8

JD says ...

Apparently, 84% of film critics are frat boys:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/40_year_old_virgin

comment #9

jesse says ...

I should add that I do generally like Wedding Crashers; the performances, mainly, are terrific: Vaughn and Wilson at their best, Rachel McAdams is actually a woman worth the rom-com effort, and Isla Fisher is pretty funny in it, too. (I even like the Will Ferrell cameo that about half the audience claims everyone hates.) But it does get lazy around the middle, especially with those awful would-be gags about the gay son/brother (the big joke is... he's gay! He's one of those gays! Those gay tortured artists! You know how those gays are! Isn't being gay hilarious?) and the foul-mouthed old woman (she's a grandma... but she just called him a homo! Hey, that was hilarious *and* it just reminded me that he's gay! And being gay is hilarious!). (It does lead to Vaughn's fantastic delivery of the line about how "that painting was a gift, and I'm keeping it," or something along those lines... but that's just about the only good that comes of it.) Plus, the movie corrals Walken and proceeds to give him NOTHING to do. That's just weird.

The interplay between the leads is great, though. It's a fun movie. But 40-Year-Old Virgin is taken less from the Hollywood comedy playbook. Yes, there's that "you know how I know you're gay?" scene, but at least it's written with an understanding of how straight dudes interact rather than a giggle at how some dudes have sex with dudes. It's self-aware and not as homophobic. Oh, and, you know, it's actually funny, which helps.

comment #10

Chris Molanphy says ...

Jeff, seriously, between this and the ongoing Sofia Coppola rantings, you are edging deeply into Oldster Who Wants These Damn Gen-X Kids To Get Off His Lawn territory.

You were alone on 'Virgin'; you are (mostly) alone on Coppola. Let. It. Go.

comment #11

fnt says ...

I like how Jeff feels the need to "warn" us of such things as Sofia Coppola and Judd Apatow. Because these are the people who are most certainly going to ruin the film business, the people making under 30-million dollar movies. Unreal.

VIRGIN was the funniest movie of last year and certainly one of the best. I could not be in more agreement about the DVD version being overlong -- I wish the theatrical cut was available, the timing on it was fantastic.

Just so that I get pilloried by Jeff and the (very few) haters of VIRGIN, I honestly see a lot of Wilder's THE APARTMENT in Apatow's movie.

comment #12

Ju-osh says ...

Oh, Kinicky...my first thought while reading your post was to mention 'Wedding Crashers', but it looks like EVERYONE ELSE was thinking the same thing!
Quick question: Between 40 Year Old Virgin and Wedding Crashers, which film's main characters were supposed to serve as cultural stand-ins/icons for your aforementioned fratboys?
(Hint: It's not the self-loathing geeks, but the pussy-hound party animals.)

comment #13

EDouglas says ...

"Apparently, 84% of film critics are frat boys"

Yes.

comment #14

L.B. says ...

For the record, Apatow was a very hip comedy writer in the early 90s (THE BEN STILLER SHOW, LARRY SANDERS) who became a producer of extremely high quality and criminally under-watched television shows in the 00s (the aforementioned F&G and UNDECLARED) and is now a producer and sometime director of inexpensive comedies that bring in skiploaders full of revenue without sacrificing brains or emotional content (to varying degrees). So, clearly he's the Antichrist.

Really, Jeff, you want to crap on the guy? You want to paint all of his fans with the same broad brush? (And, just to help you out: if you're going to constantly dog real or imagined people for their appearance you need to keep recent pictures of yourself out of the public eye. Sorry, man. Glass houses and stones and what have you.) Apatow may not be a genius on the level of Allen or Wilder or whatever ridiculous, irrelevant comparisson you want to make, but from what I've seen of his work he's one of the good guys. He's making an attempt to keep the quality up, even with the low-brow stuff. Added to which, personally he's a good man and has his heart in the right place. He is by no means a person who can be dismissed with something as toothless and groundless as a "40ish maintainer with expenses to cover".

It's not like he's a 50ish wash-out with an axe to grind for anyone making a mid-career resurgence or something.

comment #15

Aguirre says ...

Oh snap, Mrs. Clinton! ... But seriously Jeff, I fear if you keep this up we might all emigrate to Poland.

comment #16

Joshua Mooney says ...

But what was the NAME of the film critics' fraternity? I'll start it off:

Tappa-Kega-Ozu

Alpha-DePalma-Omega

Kappa-Epsilon-Kael

Come on! It's fun!

comment #17

donnyboy says ...

re: 40 year old virgin

I don't understand why having sex makes you an adult. It is quite easy. Everyone can do it. It takes little skill.

That new movie sounds awful, in the coming soon.net summary, the line

"harried sister Debbie"

I can see it now, she's just so FRANTIC...and out of control! I can see her slipping all over the set!

Look out!

And to think that the man that wrote 40 year old virgin will answer FOR ONCE AND FOR ALL, the question

"What makes a happy lifetime partnership after all?"

NOW THAT IS FUNNY!!!!

comment #18

JD says ...

I'm all for perspectives that break-from-the-pack, even when I disagree with them. What I don't understand about Jeff, however, is his insistence that he's in the critical majority (on Sofia Coppola, Judd Apatow, Peter Jackson, etc.), even when he clearly is not. Jeff is fond of writing about critics he thinks of as "nutters" -- people with unusual opinions that pretty much nobody agrees with -- but he's terrified to admit it when he's one of them.

comment #19

Aguirre says ...

When is he NOT one of them? Even, as with Little Miss Sunshine, he follows the herd, he's still a nutter! It's all over the prose... Love ya, Jeff!

comment #20

Hopscotch says ...

I think this thread is similar to one for "The Departed" where you can argue that all these film's are entertaining, but there is a hesitation to put them on the same pedestal as old classics. 40YOV and Wedding crashers are not on Annie Hall level, not by a long shot. Departed is not on "Goodfellas" level, by a long shot. But they are both good.

As far as this review on AICN is concerned, studios "plant" operatives to write reviews to these sites ALL THE TIME (trust me on this). And I happen to know for a fact the film literally stopped shooting a couple of months ago...which is realllllllly early for a test screening don't you think???

comment #21

James says ...

Why all the bile-spewing at Jeff?

I liked 40 Year Old Virgin a lot and I generally like Apatow's stuff, but I do think Jeff's right to make fun of anyone attempting to make it out to be some sort of "classic."

But even if I didn't, I can't imagine thinking Jeff's so awful for for making that sort of crack?

Okay, so you guys disagree with him. But why the ad hominem attacks? Does the fact that he sees things differently from you make him a bad person? Or worse, an uninteresting writer?

comment #22

transmogrifier says ...

I would suggest that if Jeff didn't want ad hominem attacks on his good self, he probably wouldn't be making them against, oh, every single person who has ever produced a film that other people liked and he didn't.

comment #23

transmogrifier says ...

...oh, and the people that liked those films.

comment #24

jesse says ...

James, I know I, at least, was responding mainly to the characterization of Apatow's fans as beefy monkeys with no socks. There is a perfectly fine argument to be made about the film itself and it not being an instant classic. Jeff made this when the movie first came out; I disagreed, but as you say, that's fine. But now he's moved on to another argument: "if you like this movie, you are an idiot."

comment #25

Dave Polands Gut says ...

Please Jeff. You're better than this. Taking apart some rube/shill on AICN??? Come on.