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| 40 Days and 40 Nights |
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  (6/10)
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Runtime: 105 |
| Public Rating: 6.70 (129 votes) |
Director: Michael Lehmann |
MPAA Rating:  |
| Genre: Romatic Comedy |
Year: 2002 |
| Writer(s): Rob Perez |
| Distributor: 1 |
| Reviewed by: Movieman |
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The sex comedy along the lines of American Pie and Road Trip is still around with the tale about Matt Sullivan (Hartnett; O) who after a major breakup decides to try abstinence for 40 days, the length of Lent. Matt has many obstacles confront him during the period including a betting ring between his roommate (Costanzo), co-workers and the Internet community at large, none more difficult than when he meets Erica (Sossamon; A Knight's Tale) and starts dating her without any physically sexual (sex, kissing, etc.) contact.
40 Days and 40 Nights surprised me somewhat. When I saw the trailer I thought I knew what the big climax will she or won't she moment was and over what but the film got it out of the way early and then the formula kicked in and the end of the tunnel was very clear. The obvious formula did not hurt this film mainly because it is a romantic comedy and there's not much variance you can do with the genre.
That aside, the film does fall prey to some unbelievable scenes. For instance, Matt has come home to have dinner with his parents and his priest-in-training brother, John. Now it is quite possible that there are some parents who are not shy about sharing their sexual styles with their children at the dinner table, but I think more often than not, this rarely happens. But for the sake of comedy, this was added in to give the audience a laugh. I guess this scene would be all right if only the film was some sort of spoof but it just defied any reason.
When the script failed at times, the cast does not despite a lack of character development. This cast of young rising stars is great. Josh Hartnett who has made a name for himself and is already considered a star, has proven that he can take on his own film without the comfort of an A-Class star.
The one the audience should pay attention to is Shannyn Sossamon who has now made her second appearance in a big budget film (the other being A Knight's Tale). She has benefited from the talent of Heath Ledger, who is on the same level as Hartnett, but also has shown her acting ability that we may see in the future with more serious roles. Two other movies are set to come out this year: The Sin Eater, directed by Brian Hegleman and co-starring Heath Ledger and Mark Addy (all from A Knight's Tale) and then The Rules of Attraction with James Van Der Beek, Faye Dunaway and Thomas Ian Nicolas (American Pie).
The other supporting cast members mainly include bland characters (although at times do what is necessary to get a laugh) with the exception of Paulo Costanzo who seems to continue playing his role from Road Trip. All in all an average group.
While my main criticism is about the writing, it does have some good points to it. There are many funny scenes reminiscent of American Pie thus classifying the film as a sex comedy. Rob Perez wrote the screenplay and it's not bad considering this is his debut. It has the flaws that you see most freshman writers make but when you can get the laughs this movie produces, you've succeeded.
Overall, 40 Days and 40 Nights is a nice little romantic sex comedy and has plenty of laughs but does not take off when the script is concerned. It does, however, make the most of Josh Hartnett and Shannyn Sossamon's performances and for that reason I give it a slight recommendation.
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