‘40 Days’ goes where no man has willingly gone before

By ERICA BOLINSKI

Staff Writer

After a half-a-year release delay, Josh Hartnett (Pearl Harbor) returns to the silver screen in Miramax’s latest comedy, 40 Days and 40 Nights.

Director Michael Lehmann (The Truth About Cats and Dogs) has taken what was once unspoken sex humor and created a full-fledged, in-your-face comedy that reveals how far one man will go to test his strength of celibacy.

Hartnett’s character, Matt Sullivan, is left distraught and mentally unable to commit once his longtime girlfriend, Nicole (Vinessa Shaw of Corky Romano), abruptly and coldheartedly breaks off the relationship.

Matt believes the answer to his commitment problem lies within the church and solemnly swears off sex, and all things sex-like, for Lent. Once he undertakes the unthinkable vow, he meets Erica (A Knight’s Tale’s Shannyn Sossamon), the girl of his dreams who wants more than just coffee talk.

The film’s daily account of Hartnett’s unsatisfying agenda, which includes the tossing of sex paraphernalia and flocks of female co-workers attempting to break his vow, are mere obstacles in comparison to his solitary evenings painting model cars to pull his mind up from the gutter.

Aside from the hilariously delivered one-liners in the film, there was much suspense in how far Lehmann would go to expose the inner core of a male’s standpoint on sexual interactions. The humor shifts from Matt’s casual, oversexed relationships, to his jittery “priest-like existence,” to developing an understanding of what love entails without depending on physical clichés.

The adolescent American Pie humor that moviegoers are used to, which shows more skin than Maxim, has been taken to a modern, edgier level. Hartnett’s conspicuous portrayal of a twenty-something male abstaining from sex is an amusing account of a once-enjoyed male fantasy gone awry.

This film may not be Academy Award material, but it does positively prove that Hartnett can deliver a diverse set of characters with a variety of personalities. He played a terrified teen chased in Halloween: H20, a schizophrenic in last year’s O, a heartthrob in uniform in Pearl Harbor and, now, a hysterically sex-crazed web page designer. All of these roles opened Hollywood’s eyes to fresh, natural talent. While most actors are typecast the minute they walk onto a set, Hartnett has maintained the stamina to keep audiences guessing.

Hartnett’s co-stars were like side dishes to the main course at Tavern on the Green. Even though they made you think, “Where have I seen them before?” when they appeared on the screen, they will definitely be remembered after this film as Hartnett’s comical sidekicks.

The only thing that could have been left out of the script, with the aspect of Sullivan’s dilemma still maintained, was the male vision of every single woman walking down San Francisco’s streets completely naked with perfectly toned bodies. As for the consideration of the “needed” dirty magazine philosophy, it possibly could have been left implied.

Despite the film’s lack of true female perspective on relationships and its stereotypical view on sex, the hour and a half was filled with comedic performances. 40 Days and 40 Nights may have had a predictable, guy-oriented focus, but who could resist one man’s tale of abstinence?