40
Days and 40 Nights is a somewhat entertaining, surprisingly frank sex comedy that
attempts to juggle both aspects “sex” and “comedy” in a similar
but not nearly as successful fashion as Kevin Smith’s Chasing Amy. Ashamed
of the prolific promiscuity that comes with being someone who looks like Josh
Hartnett, and someone whose brother is a priest - Hartnett decides to give up
sex for lent. 40 Days and 40 Nights of celibacy that “yes” also proscribes
a stop at the “self-service” pump.
This
comes as amusing news to his roommate (Paulo Costanzo) who, as his trusty sidekick
has been the beneficiary of the windfall that Hartnett’s chick magnetism
creates. Naturally on the very day Josh makes his solemn vow, he meets the woman
of his dreams (Shannyn Sossamon). Naturally this meeting takes place in a Laundromat
(I believe this is a law), and not only does she look exactly like Angelina Jolie,
she has a wry sense of humor, a cat-like “hard-to-getitude” and amazingly
enough is available and more than interested in a big hunk of a conflicted stud
like Josh.
Hartnett,
his roommate and all his friends work in a big dotcom business and before Hartnett’s
undies have dried the entire office is not only aware of Josh’s vow, but
they’re making book on it. Before long there is a website devoted to wagering
on when Josh will give in to his harnessed libido, and of course those who have
wagered on a particular day begin to contrive ways to break his will power.
For
example two girls in the office corner Hartnett in his office on the day they’ve
wagered heavily on, offer him a three-way and put the hard-sell on by undressing
each other and French-kissing. Again, this is one of the more explicit sex comedies
I’ve ever seen and, kind of a gamble I should think, this early in Hartnett’s
career. Had this film been made with an eye toward being a bit more classy and
less raunchy it would have been a good film, but there are at least two scenes
where we witness Heartnett running around hunched over a protruding erection in
his dockers. One of which comes to us after a little viagra falls into his drink..
There
are however some nice moments between Hartnett and Sossamon, they had a pretty
palpable chemistry and some fun banter, but the film is bogged down by a few too
many implausible plot-points and a little too much easy bathroom comedy. As an
example of the silly implausibility, Sossoman just so happens to work for a company
that filters internet porn and happens on to the website where she is the odds-on
favorite to take Hartnett down before lent is over. This, causes the first of
several rifts, that Hartnett must iron out with his puppy-dog doormat manner.
And there is also a sour-note sequence involving film-vet Griffin Dunne who plays
the manager of the business. He sees the women throwing themselves at Hartnett
and figures a vow of celibacy might be just the ticket to light a fire under his
frigid wife. This bit should have never made the final cut.
What's
really remarkable is that Hartnett’s "friends" are actually pretty
funny, and not just the stock frat-boy types who fall out of uncreative screenwriters'
ibooks. Costanzo has some very amusingly frank and deadpan lines as the extremely
unsupportive Ryan, and Glenn Fitzgerald and Michael Maronna steal a few moments
as the betting pool coordinator and the bagel delivery guy, respectively. Hartnett
actually shows some promise in the romantic comedy genre, after Pearl Harbor bombed
and that stinker with Harrison Ford tanked, he’s lost his “it”
boy status to Colin Farrell and for good reason - Farrell can act circles around
him. Still 40 Days and 40 Nights is a reasonably entertaining film that is certainly
a step up from that similarly titled Harrison Ford plane wreck. What was it? Seven
Days, Seven Nights.
