Script Review: #94 The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005) | WGA 101 Greatest Scripts of the 21st Century
Even though it diverges quite a bit from the finished film, The 40-Year-Old Virgin works first on paper, finding that spot between sunny and sweet without being crass about its subject.
Logline: Andy Stitzer has a pleasant life with a nice apartment and a job at an electronics store. But at age 40, there's one thing Andy hasn't done, and it's really bothering his sex-obsessed male co-workers: Andy is still a virgin. Determined to help Andy get laid, the guys make it their mission to de-virginize him. But it all seems hopeless until Andy meets small business owner Trish, a single mom.
Written by: Judd Apatow and Steve Carell
Pages: 109
Here’s what you need to know about any screenplay of a Judd Apatow project: What’s on the page is never final. Like a jazz player, Apatow encourages his performers to improvise during filming, which often leads to more outrageous and spontaneous comedy that has become his hallmark. The script functions more as a guide than a blueprint, connecting the dots and bringing the story together, but always open to revisions.
If there is a final script version of The 40-Year-Old Virgin, it isn’t available online. After reading it, I watched the film to see what made the cut and what didn’t. Unsurprisingly, few of the jokes are taken verbatim from the page. Surprisingly, some scenes- such as when the lead character visits Planned Parenthood- are essentially the same in its essence but have a slightly different plot outcome. When it comes to the dramatic exchanges, most of it is intact but the situation is altered.
Apatow wrote the screenplay with Steve Carell for his directorial debut, though he was no slouch: By this point in his career, he’d worked with different comedians such as Garry Shandling, he’d produced cult classic TV series such as Freaks and Geeks, as well as features like Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. It was the latter that convinced him of Carell’s potential as a leading man; when he approached him, it was Carell who broached the idea of a 40-year-old man who’d never had sex. The result is a tender and moving story of a man afraid to connect with women on an intimate level because his previous attempts ended in failure; by preferring not to go through that experience again, he shuts himself out until he falls in love with Trish.
It’s easy to get distracted by the humor in any Apatow production to remember that his success comes from exploring hard-hitting subjects. Andy’s vulnerability opens up a dialogue about how missing out on sex can also cut him off from love and connection that fuels growth. For a script where the end goal is to get Andy laid, it’s far more interested in the relationship between Andy and Trish as well as the friendships he develops with his co-workers: Jay, David, and Cal1.
One change in the film that the writers wisely make is to introduce Trish earlier than the script: In the latter, she makes her first appearance on pages 51-52. Her character is also changed into a small business owner who helps Andy sell his collectibles, a plot development missing from the script. For these reasons, I suspect the screenplay for The 40-Year-Old Virgin floating online is a much earlier draft. But that doesn’t change the fact that even in its earlier form, it still charms the pants off you. Indeed, it is one of Apatow’s better, if not best, scripts that he’s written in his career. A less experienced writer might have turned the script into a poor series of crass jokes; in Apatow’s and Carell’s hands, the screenplay becomes a deeply felt story about the human connection… featuring plenty of raunchy tales.
How does The 40-Year-Old Virgin fit in today’s context? Does it still work? The acceptance of asexuals today is small but growing, and there’s an argument to be made that Andy could be asexual. The technical definition of an asexual is “the lack of sexual attraction to others, or a low interest in sexual activity” (please note that asexuality is not equal to celibacy). On page 16, he argues that “there’s more to life than sex” but David makes an equally compelling argument that Andy isn’t just missing out on sex, but the messiness that comes with being with people. I’d be intrigued to read a version of this script where Andy IS asexual and struggles to reveal this to Trish even though he is in love with. Would it work out?
To date, the story of Andy Stitzer clearly resonates with people, judging by the YouTube comments on the film’s trailer. I worry that this story will be appropriated and claimed by incels, but then there’s a key difference between them and Andy: The latter is a genuinely nice and decent guy who doesn’t feel entitled to sex, doesn’t resent women, and isn’t misogynistic. The complete opposite of an incel.
What are the takeaways from reading The 40-Year-Old Virgin screenplay?
If you are going to work with talented performers (as Apatow did), don’t treat the script dialogue as sacrosanct
But you do need to figure out the dramatic beats and character arcs on the page before you improvise!
Story > Bawdy humor. For all the jokes about It wouldn’t be half as funny if we don’t feel for Andy.
If you want to write a screenplay like Judd Apatow and Steve Carell, don’t start with the jokes. Start with the emotional core of the situation. Get the reader to connect with the character’s plight. Make us like them. Once you got that down, the jokes will emerge naturally from the scenario and feel organic. That’s why out of all the scripts he has written, The 40-Year-Old Virgin is the one that’s on the WGA’s Greatest Screenplays of the 21st Century: Because it would still work even without the raunch factor.
Andy’s boss, Paul, is changed to Paula in the film with a small subplot about her offering to take his virginity in a ‘friends with benefits’ arrangement.