Steve Carell’s 20-Year-Old Comedy Is Definitely a Product of Its Time (But It’s Still Funny)

Though Judd Apatow didn’t direct a huge number of films himself, a group of actors – including Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, Paul Rudd, and Jonah Hill – became closely associated with his style. They often starred in and Apatow frequently produced their movies, creating a recognizable comedic world. With movie comedies becoming less common now, Apatow’s films and those made with his collaborators really capture a specific moment in film history. Revisiting *The 40-Year-Old Virgin* today, two decades after it came out, feels like opening a window into the past.