The 40-Year-Old Virgin

Steve Carell plays the title character, a nice but nerdy electronics-store clerk who gets a late start on courtship and too much well-meaning advice from his buddies when he meets a woman (Catherine Keener) at a shop across the street. Be warned: The script by Carell and director Judd Apatow is not for the prudish or easily offended. That said, it’s still one of the funniest movies of the year. The story is quite a balancing act, equal parts tender sweetness and down-and-dirty raunch. Apatow’s pacing flags a bit in the third act, but the laughs-to-gags ratio remains awfully high. The movie is consistently funny and sweet-spirited, and Carell and Keener’s romantic chemistry is real. As Carell’s pals, Paul Rudd, Romany Malco and Seth Rogen have the most profanely funny lines. J.L.