This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
Nice Guys Finish Last
Plot Overview
Stock
supervisor Andy (Steve Carell) rises bright and early at 7:00, fights an
unbidden boner, does a set of calisthenics, takes a bubble bath, reams
out his ears, eats a hot breakfast, and bikes off to work at Smart Tech
in Studio City, California. On the way out he confirms to his upstairs neighbors
Joe (who tells his wife, “That guy needs to get laid”)
& Sara (who replies “Tell me something I don't know”)
that he's on for “Survivor” tomorrow night and he'll bring
the orange soda. In 2005 “Survivor” aired on Thursdays
making this a Wednesday. Its fall season started Sept. 15
making this the end of his store's summer sale event and the show's
season premier. He and his stockroom helper Cal (Seth Rogen)
have staggered workweek starts, so there's always someone
there to mind the merchandise. It's not until this Wednesday that
working together they get a chance to discuss their disappointing
weekends, Cal's in Mexico (“I felt sorry
for the girl”) and Andy's in the kitchen (“I didn't feel
like eating it.”)
His coworkers David (Paul Rudd), Jay (Romany
Malco), Mooj (Gerry Bednob) and Cal need a fifth for their poker game that
night, so they invite Andy. They play in the closed store after dark, its
weekday hours posted on the door being Mon.–Fri. 10am–9pm.
In the course of their guy talk, it's revealed that Andy at 40 is still a
virgin. In an effort to change that, three of them take him to Shade Lounge
after work this weekend where they attach themselves to a
bachelorette party that's three sheets to the wind. One of the girls
Robin is getting married tomorrow, Saturday. The store's weekend hours are
Fri.–Sat. 10am–10pm [sic] but their shifts ended at 5 while Mooj
stayed to cover Jay's later one with its (lucrative) 6–8 slot.
Andy blows 000 on a lockout breathalyzer for Nicky
(Leslie Mann) whom he picked up at the party and who's clearly in
no condition to drive. The outcome is gastronomically
predictable, with an alternate resolution involving an underage
chump (“Forty's the new twenty”) going to jail.
Each of these work friends gives Andy
a piece of advice on his delayed manhood. Jay tells him he needs to
follow his instinct, his instinct being in his pants. Jay himself
carouses around having “an unspoken agreement” with his
live-in lover Jill (Erica Vittina Phillips.) However, that
“unspoken agreement” turns out to be more an unvoiced
instinct rather than any kind of “agreement.” Cal an aspiring
novelist tutors Andy on how to talk to women, but his success at it is more
with Cal's type than with his own. David gives Andy his porno collection
that didn't satisfy David and doesn't interest Andy. Their boss Paula (Jane
Lynch) offers to be his “special friend.” Mooj spews brown
Brooklyn Billingsgate. It comes down to, “We've given you all
the advice we're gonna give you. You gotta put it into action.”
Andy's rejoinder: “You all give different advice.”
So Andy takes a chance with the fetching divorcee
Trish (Catherine Keener) who owns the We Sell Your Stuff on
eBay store across the street. Though she has product on display,
it's not available off the shelf. And Andy's collectable action
figures only accrue more value the longer he keeps them unopened.
It seems like a match made in heaven sometime someplace.
Ideology
Pertinent to the plot is (Prov. 13:12) “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.” David had broken up with his four-month squeeze Amy (Mindy Kaling) two years earlier, but he hasn't gotten over her. She changed her e-mail address, her phone number, and her residence, but he still thinks they can get back together. He hasn't gotten the message (“You're giving him hope and it's driving him crazy.”) He has a meltdown on the floor and Paula has to send him home for the day. He's sick at heart.
As for
Andy when he finally gets to “consummate it,” he breaks
forth into song and the whole cast into dance.
Production Values
“” (2005) was directed by Judd Apatow. It was written by Judd Apatow and Steve Carell. It stars Steve Carell, Catherine Keener, Paul Rudd, Romany Malco, Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Leslie Mann, Jane Lynch, Gerry Bednob, Shelley Malil, and Kat Dennings. This was relatively unknown Carell's comic breakthrough performance. The 45-year-old Catherine Keener is appealing in the role of Trish. Andy's triad of friends played by Paul Rudd, Romany Malco and Seth Rogen form a great comedic backdrop. Familiar faces were used in minor roles as well. The boss Paula's role was originally intended for a Paul, and colored Jay's for a white guy.
MPAA rated it R for pervasive sexual content, language and some drug use. The unrated version adds 17 minutes of more of the same. The funniest laughs were in the Deleted Scenes. Care was taken with setting up the sorry bachelor's pad. He's a sympathetic character whom we can relate to despite his also-ran posting.
Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation
This one's a classic, a real winner.
It's less raunchy than it could have been. The Christian in a deleted
scene is portrayed as vacillating. The star could have used more practice
on the drums and French horn, but his singing voice was good. I think
clever plotting and good acting kept it from sinking too low.
For what it's worth, there's
marginal evidence in the film that Cal is a non-observant Jew, Jay
a lapsed Catholic, David a floundering mystic, Mooj a distanced Muslim,
Trish a backslidden churchwoman, Andy an unfulfilled
everyman, and Paula an upwardly mobile woman. But I wouldn't
hang my hat on any of it. They're all pretty worldly. However, we
are treated at the end to a rousing medley of the songs,
“Aquarius” and “Let the Sunshine In”
from the musical “Hair,”
which the whole cast dances to, and some may find inspiring.
Movie Ratings
Action Factor: Weak action scenes. Suitability For Children: Not Suitable for Children of Any Age. Special effects: Well done special effects. Video Occasion: Fit For a Friday Evening. Suspense: Keeps you on the edge of your seat. Overall movie rating: Four stars out of five.
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