Poor Matt Sullivan (Josh Hartnett), having been dumped by his beautiful ex some 6 months ago, he is still struggling to get over her. Not that he suffers from lack of opportunity, as Matts good looks and boyish charm makes him a hit with the ladies, it’s just that every time his date moves into the bedroom, he becomes a flop. In an attempt to rectify his problem, he decides that he will give up all forms of sex and self gratification for 40 days. But when his room mate learns of his self enforced abstinence, things take a turn for the worse as he becomes the focus of everyone’s attention as they start to gamble on when he will crumble and give in to temptation. Things are made even worse when Matt meets the beautiful Erica (Shannyn Sossamon) and as their friendship grows he struggles to explain to her about his self inflicted celibacy without sounding like a religious nut or a sex addict.
►►► Opinion
When I first experienced "40 Days and 40 Nights" on the big screen back in 2002, I absolutely loved it and thought it was hilarious. Maybe this was due to the then cinematic trend for juvenile, teen sex comedies such as "American Pie" or maybe it was because I was just very juvenile. But over the subsequent years my enjoyment of "40 Days and 40 Nights" has certainly waned as either I have outgrown these sorts of movies or that "40 Days and 40 Nights" although still quite fun is in fact a limp, one joke movie which is very repetitive. Somehow I think it maybe the latter as when I look at my DVD collection I realise that I have an inordinate amount of juvenile movies.
As I have come to expect with most modern comedies, the storyline takes a huge backseat as the film tries to please the audience with humour. This is all fine and well when the humour is varied and of a decent standard, but in the case of "40 Days and 40 Nights" it is a one gag film with just a smattering of story.
The main idea behind "40 Days and 40 Nights" is the premise of someone giving up all forms of sex for 40 days, not so unbelievable until you put into the situation of the film where the person giving up the sex is a good looking twenty something man who has an eye for the ladies, at which point the idea becomes a little far fetched. Fortunately "40 Days and 40 Nights" has a couple of supporting storylines which although enormously underused add a little depth to the movie. The most important of these is the blossoming relationship between Matt and Erica which starts off being highly entertaining and imaginative as they explore a relationship which is not all about the physical attraction. Sadly the film makers must have got the wobbles as this element became a bystander to the juvenile humour. Also adding to the storyline is Matt’s brother who is a trainee priest but who also seems to be struggling with abstaining from sex, especially as Matt constantly confesses his sexual problems to him. Again this is hugely under worked but is a fun sideline to the main story.
Where "40 Days and 40 Nights" really falters, is on the comedy front as this really is a one gag movie revolving around sex. Although the humour starts off well, and for the first 20 minutes or so is genuinely amusing, by the umpteenth time we watch Matt struggle to resist the temptations of his sexy office workers it becomes pretty boring. So much so that at times the film makers have resorted in abandoning the humour and relying on the raw effectiveness of tits and ass to titillate the audience. This is definitely a film geared towards a teen audience and in being so looses a lot of appeal to an older audience. In some ways this could be compared to "The 40 Year Old Virgin", but a much watered down, junior version.
The problems do not stop at the humour as the characters and cast bring a whole new set of problems. The most annoying of these comes in the form of Josh Hartnett as the lead, he may fit the character of a good looking twenty something perfectly but his performance comes over as distinctly stiff and wooden. For the majority of the movie he looks ill at ease with the script, it is only when he is sharing screen time with co-star Shannyn Sossamon that his performance actually picks up. In fact Shannyn Sossamon’s performance is one of the few positive things which can be drawn from this movie, as not only does her beauty light up the screen but her characterisation and delivery of dialogue is head and shoulders above everyone else’s. Somehow finding a middle ground is Paulo Costanzo as Matt’s room mate. Although his performance is far from wooden, his character is rather 2 dimensional and in beings so is quite boring. The same can be said for the rest of the characters as not a single one has any life to them.
Whether "40 Days and 40 Nights" was originally planned as a teen sex comedy I am not sure of, but director Michael Lehmann has definitely turned it into one. Not only has he filled it with good looking young stars and sexual humour but he has also given it a snappy modern soundtrack which keeps it moving along at a reasonable pace.
►►► DVD Package
►Special Features
Audio Commentary – The commentary comes from director Michael Lehmann, producer Michael London and screenwriter Rob Perez where they attempt to discuss certain aspects of the movie. Although at times it is slightly informative as they high light some of the issues with how far to push the sexual humour, for the most it is rather disjointed and rather rambley.
Trailer – The original cinematic trailer for the films release, which although in my opinion a bit pointless, for once is a good representation of what the film is rather than just showing all the best bits.
►Picture Quality
In general the picture quality is of a reasonable standard with warm vibrant colours. The only real issues appear on scenes which have been filmed under soft lighting, where the colours appear to bleed into each other and there is a general fuzziness about them. Not that this really detracts from the overall enjoyment of watching "40 Days and 40 Nights".
►Sound Quality
Again there seems to be a few issues with the sound quality for "40 Days and 40 Nights". Although the musical soundtrack comes across as clear and lively, the actual dialogue seems rather dull, with very little use of all the sound channels available.
►►► Summary
It is strange how just a few years ago I thought "40 Days and 40 Nights" was a great comedy, as watching it now it definitely does not live up to my memories. Yes it is still an enjoyable, fun film but sadly lacks the style and more importantly the humour of other comedies, most notably "The 40 Year Old Virgin". I am sure it will never be termed a great film, but it is one which will almost certainly be popular with a teen audience who enjoy the rawness of the sexual humour and the modern soundtrack. Plus with several scenes featuring many semi naked young ladies it is a film which will give many teenage boys’ hours of viewing pleasure.
The DVD package is very sparse with just an audio commentary and theatrical trailer, both of which are not much more than an after thought. But with a film which is geared towards a teen audience where many never care for the bonus footage on a DVD I suppose this is what you should expect.
►►► Price & Availability
Amazon.co.uk: £4.97 But I picked up my copy in Tesco’s for under £2.
►►► Technical Details
Certificate: 15 Duration: 91 mins Year of Release: 2002 Genre: Comedy, Romance
of them. Almost nothing here even remotely resembles genuine human behaviour. Matt (Josh Hartnett) is brutally dumped by his knockout ex-girlfriend, and as a resu...
40 Days And 40 Nights [2002]
Some movies are so stupid that they are depressing to watch:40 Days and 40 Nightsis one of
... more
them. Almost nothing here even remotely resembles genuine human behaviour. Matt (Josh Hartnett) is brutally dumped by his knockout ex-girlfriend, and as a result...
![40 Days And 40 Nights [2002]](http://picnic.ciao.com/uk/65507785.jpg)
