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List Price: $7.99 | | Label: Miramax Home Entertainment
Salesrank: 20627
Released: September 17, 2002 |
| Our Price: $3.64 |
| Used Price: $0.36 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
An outrageously sexy comedy starring Josh Hartnett (PEARL HARBOR, BLACK HAWK DOWN) and Shannyn Sossamon (A KNIGHT'S TALE), 40 DAYS AND 40 NIGHTS is another hilarious hit from the producers of NOTTING HILL and BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY. On the heels of a disastrous breakup and a string of unfulfilling romantic conquests, Matt Sullivan (Hartnett) yearns to become a better, more complete person. In the midst of his despair, he chooses to test himself by making a vow of no sex whatsoever for 40 days and 40 nights! With everyone betting he won't finish ... and a seductive new girl in his life (Sossamon) ... it's all Matt can do to just hold on! Fun, fresh, and wildly entertaining -- you'll agree with critics everywhere who found this sexy comedy adventure totally irresistible!
Description of 40 Days and 40 Nights:
After being brutally dumped by his knockout ex-girlfriend, Matt (Josh Hartnett, Pearl Harbor) is so torn up inside that he vows to give up sexual activity--including masturbation--for Lent. His friends and coworkers start betting on how soon he'll crack. Their skepticism is given fuel when Matt meets Erica (Shannyn Sossamon, A Knight's Tale) at a laundromat. They're immediately smitten with each other, but Matt struggles to stay true to his vow, even though it threatens to founder his potential relationship with Erica. Based on this description, you might think that 40 Days and 40 Nights is religious educational video--however, the barrage of sex gags and frequent nudity would quickly dispel this notion. Almost nothing in this movie remotely resembles human behavior. Some movies are so deeply stupid that they're depressing to watch; this is one of them. --Bret Fetzer
40 Days and 40 Nights Reviews:
This is one of the best comedies out there...if you're 14 
2009-07-10 - Josh Hartnett plays the male lead Matt, in this "movie". Hartnett's other roles are quite variegated and some of his greatest roles are in Lucky Number Slevin, Sin City, Black Hawk Down and The Virgin Suicides. The female lead in this movie is Erica, played by Shannyn Sossaman, most noted for "A Knight's Tale", but has also been seen in One Missed Call and Rules of Attraction. Josh Hartnett's character makes a para-religious vow to abstain for 40 days and 40 nights from all sexual activity to get his ex-girlfriend Nicole out of his system. He, of course, meets Erica in the middle of his vow and has real trouble keeping his vow as they fall for each other.
There is little good to be said about this movie. It does have a few larfs, it has a couple of jerky, gratuitous shots of naked breasts. Its soundtrack is modern and kinda catchy. Overall, how this got a R rating, I'll never know. This is strictly PG13 fare.
This movie is disguised appeal to abstinence and prudery. It has some objectionable material. An anti-arabic phrase is used, a the female lead has a stupid conversation with her roommate "He's treating me with consideration, like an equal." "Kinda sucks, doesn't it?" "Yeah, it sucks." WTF? I'm not uber-feminist, but the entire movie seemed to be a religious, pro-abstinence, idiotic farce. It had some thinly veiled misogynistic messages, although they were against society's grain of misogyny. It's humor was strained and threadbare. It lacked any real insight into people or relationships. It had a catholic priest making out with a nun. What purpose did that scene really serve? This movie presupposes that everyone is an idiot. I really am left without much comprehensible to say. A big disappointment for the careers of Hartnett and Sossaman.
Pointless.
Absurd.
Borderline Offensive.
Juvenile.
That about sums it up.
In related news, Maggie Gyllenhaal, an excellent actress, played a lackluster supporting role in this movie. She shined as best as she could, but got mired in the absurd script.
I had this DVD sitting around and felt recently encouraged due to the enormous success with "chick movies" I felt with "He's just not that into you". Which is an actual movie, not a piece of crap hiding in a genre. This movie's a big pass. If you need something kinda thin to prop up that wobbly table leg, this DVD might be perfect.
Funny and culturally interesting, but only moderately 
2009-07-03 - After watching The 40-Year-Old Virgin (Unrated Widescreen Edition) a few months ago, my girlfriend and I settled in for this take on the sexless/40 genre.
Less funny and only moderately more interesting than its followup, 40 Days and Nights is best for its depiction of San Francisco during the dot-com bubble/era. The bagel guy, the fashion/look/etc, the open work spaces, the ubiquitous sense of entitlement, the casual throwing around of money, the constant rediscovery of the internet's expanding reach, the frantic sexual-ization of almost everything for short term gain - I can't help but wonder if someone on the film spent time with my initial employer :)
As a film experience, its a lightweight - no character is more than mildly compelling and ultimately it never breaks through the surface of funny or interesting - which is disappointing because the setting was both in spades.
If you're intrigued by the delightful ridiculosity of the dot-com bubble culture, I recommend this film - otherwise, it's a pass.
Cute and Perverted 
2009-03-29 - This provocative movie is funny and cute. Of course I love Josh Hartnett so I like this movie, but it is quite entertaining. If you don't mind a bunch of perverted scenes than you will probably enjoy this one.
Lent has never been so hard (Get it?! See what I did there?...heh...*sigh*) 
2009-03-03 - Matt (Josh Hartnett) has just gone through a rough break up with his girlfriend Nicole and is flying through new girls to try and help his pain. To his dismay though, no amount of sex can get Nicole out of his head. A little later he finds out that his ex is now getting married to a guy she barely even knew for 2 weeks. Matt snaps and tries to get help from his brother who is just about to become a priest. Matt then comes to the conclusion to give up sex and any other kind of sexual pleasure for lent. 40 Days and 40 Nights of pure abstinence.
Of course once he begins his trek of the impossible, he happens across a pretty and interesting girl named Erica (the ever so beautiful Shannyn Sossamon). He doesn't want to tell her about his vow because it's kind of embarrassing and also because he doesn't want to seem weird. Don't worry though because of course she's going to find out since all of his friends have created a pot luck to guess what day he's going to, get some relief. Oh...and they've also posted it on the internet for everyone in the world to bet on also. As the days and nights go by, Matt keeps getting tempted more and more from not just his new girl, but from workmates, friends, and even complete strangers just drinking some coffee.
40 Days and 40 Nights feels a lot like a `wannabe' Judd Apatow movie, but just not as funny (if you're into Apatow's movies that is). And I really do think it's because of the love angle in the movie. I think if it hadn't been for that, this could've been a lot funnier. But hey, that's just my opinion. There are still some pretty funny moments in the movie, but I just think it could've been better.
In the end, I would give it a rent. It might even be a fun date movie (maybe not a first date movie for some...hehe). I had a good time with it.
P.S. When this movie first came out it related SOMEWHAT to an experience I had just a few months earlier, so of course I thought it was pretty funny at the time. I had gone overseas in Oct of 2001 for 9/11. I went over to help set up an air base, but I only had to be over there for a month and a half. So basically, yeah... I did go without...well... anything for about the same time as Matt did. And yeah, there was some pain and anguish, but it wasn't nearly as bad as he had it at the end with the shakes and twitches and all. But I will say it was pretty painful and I swear some of the things he'd see (like when he was on the bus or in the coffee shop) were things I was seeing. What a happy reunion I had with the girl I was seeing at the time when I got home...hehe.
Everyone involved has done much better
2009-01-30 - Matt (Josh Hartnett) has just ended a long term relationship with his girlfriend Nicole. He attempts to fill the void left in his life by having a series of unfulfulling one night stands. While talking to his brother, who is training to become a priest, he decides to take drastic action. Prompted by the arrival of Lent and also the realization that Nicole is recently engaged Matt decides to give up sex for 40 days and 40 nights. He isn't limiting it to intercourse any foreplay or self gratification is also off limits. No one close to him including his roommate, brother, or co workers believe he can go through with it and begin taking bets for how long he will last. To complicate matters he meets a beautiful young girl named Erica (Shannyn Sossamon) one night while doing laundry. The two begin an awkward romance with Erica left confused about why Matt isn't putting the moves on her. He doesn't tell her about the vow but eventually she finds out and is not happy about it. The film only works thanks to the beautiful Sossamon. Hartnett is good in their scenes together but on his own he doesn't fare as well. The supporting cast is good with Griffin Dunne as Hartnett's boss who is miserable because he too isn't getting any, and Maggie Gyllenhaal as Sossamon's sassy roommate. Otherwise the film is a standard teen sex comedy that isn't real funny and that ends terribly. The director Michael Lehmann directed the great Heathers but hasn't directed a funny movie since. Decent enough for fans of either Hartnett or Sossamon but ultimately unsatisfying.
