40 jours et 40 nuits

First off this is far from a great movie but it's an ok night of entertainment if a) you're in the mood for a sex farce and b) there's nothing better on at the cinema. It has a lot of flaws, most notably the liberal applying of schmaltz across the whole film but it does have it's rewarding moments and interesting characters such as the Bagel guy who knows everything except how to turn up on time. A lot of the comedy is too heavy handed but there are moments which genuinely made me laugh. I particularly liked Josh Hartnett's Priest to be brother struggling to listen to Josh's tales of sexual encounters.

That said the two main characters are somewhat lacking in life and could have done with a bit more development. This is a largely French funded film and it does show in places. There are elements of French farce about it but with transposing the action to California it was always inevitable there'd be the standard Hollywood ending and it doesn't "disappoint" in that respect.

Hopefully this won't be the best film you'll see this year but it certainly could be worse.

After his girlfriend dumps him Matt goes through a lot of meaningless sex that makes him feel bad,so in order to give himself time to recover he decides to give up sex and anything to do with sex for Lent.

I liked the idea, but the movie ended up being a disappointment.

Josh Hartnett is pretty bad in this movie. I can't think of any other movies with him, but considering that I know his name he did a few, so he might be a good actor. But this movie really doesn't show it. I wonder if he even knew it was a comedy, because he sure didn't act as if he did.

Actually besides having a more or less original idea for a romantic comedy the movie didn't go too far from it. The joke was pretty much the same all through 90 minutes. And it was also stupid. It was the kind of sentiment I would expect for a teen movie, but the characters in this one were in their 20's, the whole "omg the poor guy can't live without sex" thing is just dumb. And this is what the whole movie was about, exaggerated and annoying.

Also, while I think sex themed comedies can be very funny. Only this one was trying to be romantic, and this is what made her sexual theme fail. Some of the jokes were off, and seemed more vulgar than funny for the genre. Actually the only time I laughed was at the Bagel Boy.

The story was not well thought through. It makes no sense whatsoever to me why Erica was mad at Matt about the whole abstinence thing. It's not like he decided not to have sex ever again in his life, or that it was a personal insult to her or that he was supposed to tell everything about himself on one date only. Silly. Same as the ending. I don't want to spoil, but what happened with Nicole was in no way funny. And it was also pretty unnecessary, one could have done it better without it.

40 Days and 40 Nights could have been written into something interesting. In fact I'm sure it started out interesting, then a series of re-writes probably ruined it. The film cannot decide if it's a sex farce, a date movie, or some kind of statement about morality. The cast seems generally appealing, and the idea of such a promiscuous young man suddenly abstaining from sex sets up some interesting possibilities. Ultimitely, it just goes down as another failed date movie.

Josh Hartnett plays a young man who has just broken up with the girl of his dreams. He then becomes wildly promiscuous; sleeping around with anyone who will talk to him. After some time, his conscience begins to get the better of him, and he swears off sex for Lent. Yep, that means he cannot even masturbate or so much as kiss a girl for the time frame mentioned in the title. That seems like an interesting starting point for a film, but scene after scene never generates the results we the audience are after.

Of course, Hartnett meets another wonderful young lady at the laundry mat. They obviously fall for each other instantly, but their relationship is nothing more than a ploy to see how much the young man can be tempted to break his vow. Of course the script doesn't give him the courage to be honest about why he can't sleep with his new girlfriend. This is only meant to cause tension between the two of them, and frankly it does nothing more than delay what we know will eventually happen.

Scene after scene reminds you that this is only a movie, and in no way do people behave normally or do things happen rationally. First of all, would it make any sense for a guy looking to avoid sex to hang around with a babe like Shannyn Sossamon? I think not. How about their first date? The two of them just ride around San Francisco on a public bus and make warm faces at one another while "Chemistry" by Semisonic chimes away on the soundtrack. Can we say "date movie"? How about the office where Hartnett works? All the girls are hot of course, further tempting our young man. All the guys dress like GAP models, and none of them talk about sports at all! Sure we guys talk about sex at work, but we always at least talk a little about sports, too. In another scene, Hartnett actually gives Sossamon an orgasm using only the petals of a flower. (He can't touch her, if you recall!) To meet a woman like that.... if only! On a more serious note, practicing Catholics will definitely be offended by one scene in particular. In it, Hartnett walks in on his brother who is a priest in training and catches him making out with a nun. If this were an intelligent film, you might make the case that the film is only lobbying for priests to be able to have relations with women; perhaps to help alleviate some of the child abuse scandals. Trust me though, this film is not that intelligent. The scene was included only for schlock value.

Overall, it was an interesting idea, but there were just too many ridiculous scenes to make it watchable. The film comes off as being more than a little wrong headed in a couple ways. First of all, nobody is really as sex-obsessed as the people in this film. And second of all, going without sex for 40 days and nights is disappointing, but not the end of the world. Having sex with a condom..... now there's torture!!!! 5 of 10 stars.

The Hound.

I went to the movies with a friend, and this was the only film we could agree on. I had pretty low expectations to begin with, so I can't really say I was disappointed, but "40 Days..." didn't really leave any lasting impression on me. It's a bland film - it does create a few laughs - but all in all, it's a pretty forgettable affair.

The best thing this film has going for it, is the nice on-screen chemistry between the two leads. Both Josh Hartnett and newcomer Shannyn Sossamon do well with their characters - or at least as well as the juvenile script allows them. The funniest moments in the film were the condom scene at the beginning, dinner with the parents and the "examination" of Matt's sheets. It's also nice to see a Hollywood movie that doesn't drag on beyond the two hour point. "40 Days..." clocks in at a pleasant 94 minutes, which feels just about right.

All in all, it's a mildly enjoyable film, but nothing memorable. I'll rate it 3 out of 6 on my dice.

Josh Hartnett is a good looking kid who does not use his looks to put up a wall between him and the audience in this movie. He seems very human and sweet. This helps in a lot in this movie because he's the 'sex object' who is not getting any, and you don't mind not seeing him 'add another notch to the bedpost.'

Since all of his conquests make him feel bad or doomed for unhappiness, Matt (Hartnett) feels he must take drastic action by not giving in to any sexual urges.

He becomes the subject of an intense office pool and some of the girls who had bet on a specific day he would 'cave in' make moves on him. A website is dedicated to him and he is soon referred to as 'Vow Boy.'

The movie has a lot of laughs. A couple of scenes seem retundant and a couple don't belong at all, but for the most part this is pleasant enough entertainment. Josh gets some big laughs, more than anyone else, but his roommate and his boss get some too. Josh has some good chemistry with Shannyn Sossamon who plays Erica. 7/10.