"The 41-Year-Old Virgin Who Knocked Up Sarah Marshall And Felt Superbad About It" DVD Review

"The 41-Year-Old Virgin Who Knocked Up Sarah Marshall And Felt Superbad About It"

DVD Review

By our guest blogger, Paul Gale

As its title suggests, "The 41-Year-Old Virgin Who Knocked Up Sarah Marshall And Felt Superbad About It" is a sad, sloppy frankenfilm. The parody, written and directed by Craig Moss, ineptly summarizes select scenes from successful auteur Judd Apatow's recent string of hits. What Moss fails to pick up on is Apatow's keen sense of heart. This is apparent from the top of the film, with credits that include such zingers as "Edited By A Nappy Haired Crack Head," and "Written By One Black Guy and One White Guy." The characters, with the exception of the lead, are either unabashed copies from various Apatow films, or just plain ol' stereotypes. The movie even goes so far as to recruit a Seth Rogen sound-a-like (cleverly named Seth), and actually lifts dialogue, such as McLovin's "chicka chicka, yeah," as well as the famous "you know how I know you're gay?" quibble from The 40-Year-Old Virgin."

Oh, and about that pasty juvenile delinquent?  In this film, his fake ID has been "upgraded" to a Hasidic Jew named McAnalovin.

I'm not kidding.

The humor in McLovin's blunder is that he's scolded by his friends for getting such a terrible ID, but McAnalovin is praised for his considerably worse form of identification, not to mention the fact that Moss gives the viewer no more than three lines and 30 seconds worth of buildup to the ID's reveal. When traditionally perilous things happen--such as when Officers Beat and Yo'Ass mow down several pedestrians--the movie, nor the characters, stop to acknowledge the real-world consequences. This is a key downfall and a dehumanizing factor. "Superbad" was funny because the cops reveled in their mischief, whereas these two hardly acknowledge it. In short, it is just too over the top.

I'll admit that there are a few laughs, cheap as they may be, like projectile puking inside a car. Still, more often than not, I found myself laughing at, and not with, Moss' film.

I wanted to like this movie. I swear I did. But as an audience member, I wish that Moss would trust audiences more by naming his Jonah Hill impersonator something other than Jonah. More importantly, I wish he had enough faith in his craft to create a character strong enough so that I know, without his metaphorical big arrows and blaring sirens, that the character is lampooning Hill.

It takes a really smart script to parody a comedy. This is not that script. "Scary Movie" tapped into our deep fear of horror films, and made it all fun to laugh at--it's significantly more difficult to create that subversion with films that were funny the first time around. Moss claims his film to be an homage, but I have a feeling Apatow would much rather be cited as an influence than a direct source.

The film doesn't fare much better on the technical side. The green screens and harsh editing are all too apparent, and the acting performances range from bad to decent.

Oddly enough, the film's closing credits, while it's not spoofing the finale of "Slumdog Millionaire" with "She's a Ho," include the short film "yes the movie," starring David Ury. The short, which also is take on "Can you hear me now?" and one of the first YouTube videos I remember watching, uses more slow build and hilariously real emotions to support its humor than the entire painfully abbreviated T41YOVWKUSMAFSAI. Now, that's funny.