40 Days and 40 Nights


40 Days and 40 Nights is a 2002 satirical erotic romantic comedy film directed by Michael Lehmann, written by Rob Perez, and starring Josh Hartnett, Shannyn Sossamon and Paulo Costanzo. The film depicts Matt Sullivan, a San Francisco web designer who has chosen to abstain from any sexual contact for the duration of Lent.

Plot

Matt Sullivan and his roommate, Ryan, are co-workers at a San Francisco dot-com company. Matt is obsessed with his ex-girlfriend, Nicole, and his obsession repeatedly causes him problems during attempted one-night stands. He has trouble moving on, since Nicole broke up with him. He confides his sexual problems to his brother, John, who is training to become a Catholic priest. In an attempt to fix his problems, Matt vows to abstain from sexual stimulation, including masturbation, for the 40 days and 40 nights of Lent. John warns Matt that chastity is not easy; meanwhile, Ryan starts a popular office pool to bet on how long Matt can last.
Matt meets Erica, a cyber nanny, at a neighborhood laundromat and they begin to date. They face many challenges in their relationship, including her discovery of his celibacy vow and Matt's continuing feelings for Nicole. Matt's co-workers make many unsuccessful attempts to persuade him to have sex in order to win the pool, and as the days pass Matt's obsession with sex grows. At one point he angrily grabs a pornographic magazine from an office desk after persuasion from Ryan, and begins to march towards a toilet stall in order to masturbate as co-workers try to stop him and convince him to maintain his pledge. He makes it to the bathroom and is seated on the toilet cover, where he starts to undo his pants. He is unsuccessful, as his boss is in the next stall masturbating incessantly, as he drank a Viagra-spiked drink that was meant for Matt by Ryan. Matt then escapes through the window to meet with Erica and spend a night of intimacy without any actual intercourse.
Despite the range of increasingly powerful cultural incentives to sex and orgasm surrounding Matt—scantily dressed women, billboards, et cetera—Matt's commitment holds, and begins to frustrate a lot of the people around him who had fully expected him to break it long before he could get close to his goal. In the meantime, Erica and Matt are falling in love, and they plan a special encounter for the 40th night to celebrate his successfully completing his vow. On the 40th day, a newly single Nicole learns of the betting pool, makes a large bet and then rapes Matt while he is asleep.
Erica subsequently believes Matt dishonored his vow and was unfaithful to her, but Matt wins Erica back by reminding her of the special moments they shared during their relationship. The two reconcile in Matt's bedroom for many hours, with his co-workers making a new betting pool on the duration of their stamina. Upon seeing this, he kicks them out of his apartment and shuts the door.

Cast

Writer Rob Perez said they pitched the film to every studio in town, and eventually got a deal. Perez turned in the first draft a few months later and the film was greenlit. Thirteen months after having sold the pitch, filming began. The film was released a year-and-a-half later.
In retrospect Perez noted how lucky he was that the film got made: "At the time I believed the film was made because of the script. However, in retrospect I believe it was made because of a confluence of a 20 completely random stars aligning. This included an influx of money at the studio from a new partnership; their recent films had been hits; young comedies like mine were connecting at the time; a few bankable actors in the age range wanted to play the lead; the executive happened to like the concept/script; and that the producer was hungry enough that when he hit road blocks, he found other ways to keep moving forward. I can go on, but hope this is enough to illustrate my point: the film was made because of 20 things that had nothing to do with the script."
The film was shot primarily in Vancouver, but also featured some San Francisco locations, including Potrero Hill, San Francisco, California.

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 38% based on reviews from 134 critics. The site's consensus states: "As romantic comedies go, 40 Days and 40 Nights is smutty, sexist, and puerile." On Metacritic the film has a score of 53%, based on reviews from 33 critics. Audiences surveyed by [CinemaScore gave the film a grade B on scale of A to F.
Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3 out of 4 stars. He praised director Michael Lehmann for raising the film above the level of sexual sitcom, through his sympathy for his characters and use of humor to examine human nature. He also credited writer Rob Perez for dialogue about sex with "more complexity and nuance than we expect". Not wanting to reveal too much Ebert explained he was dissatisfied with the ending saying "Nicole's entire participation is offensive and unnecessary, and that there was a sweeter and funnier way to resolve everything."
Variety's Todd McCarthy called it "A self-described abstinence comedy that is funny, sexy and silly in equal measure" but notes "had tried to deepen the film’s potentially serious themes as often as they make light of them, they might have come up with something more than the disposable farce at hand."
Peter Travers called it "a one-joke sex farce", and complains "Yup, director Michael Lehmann, far from the glory days of "Heathers," has made a movie about a hard-on, in which he relentlessly pounds a flaccid premise."
Lou Lumenick of the New York Post called the film "So eyeball-gougingly awful that you're tempted to give up movies for Lent."

Box office

The film earned in its opening weekend $12,229,529. It earned $37,939,782 at the domestic box office and $57,152,885 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $95,146,283.

Accolades

In 2005 Empire magazine included the film on its list of "Worst Sex Scenes".