CCC Reviews

40 Days and 40 Nights

Matt Sullivan is a young man, strong, successful and virile. However, he has been forever plagued by the thoughts of his ex-girlfriend Nicole. A void floats over his head no matter what girl he sleeps with and fears commitment. In order to escape the horrors of Nicole and move on, he takes a vow of celibacy for Lent. Forty days with no sex, sexual contact or self liberation. His friends have bet against him and he feels the pressure, when he meets Erica at a Laundromat and hits things off, the trouble is just getting to get thick.

First off, this movie is by no means a typical chick-flick. For the majority of the movie, there is good relationship building between Hartnett and Sossamon and of course many jokes from the supporting cast. However, the rest of the movie is filled with innuendos, nudity, erections and many crude jokes. Its a bit startling, but quite funny.

Hartnett does a very good comedic role (since we know him best from dramatic roles from Pearl Harbor, O and Black Hawk Down), he has many distinct facial expressions, especially when put in an awkward position and does a good job of feeding off his funny supporting cast. Sossamon is good as a supporting love interest, but is merely just 'there' for most of the movie. 

The story is very simple. The majority of the jokes poke fun at Hartnett's vow of celibacy and the relationship between Matt & Erica spins off of trying to work around the celibacy vow. It pulls it off well and even most guys won't lose interest, because like I said...there's quite a bit of nudity.

In general, I might not recommend taking this as a date movie, but it does function as one because in the end, its a chick-flick with just enough sap for the ladies and enough sex for the guys.

Scores for 40 Days and 40 Nights
Slacker711 - - "Sluggish & crude at times, but has many shining moments."

Cast
Matt Sullivan - Josh Hartnett
Erica - Shannyn Sossamon
Ryan - Paulo Castanzo
Nicole - Vinessa Shaw
John Sullivan - Adam Trese

Crew
Director - Michael Lehmann
Writer - Rob Perez
Producer - Tim Bevan
Producer - Eric Fellner
Producer - Michael London
Co-Producer - Stuart Besser
Executive Producer - Liza Chasin
Executive Producer - Debra Hayward
Original Music - Rolfe Kent
Cinematography - Elliot Davis
Film Editing - Nicholas Smith
Casting - Sean Cossey
Casting - Joseph Middleton