But When I Became a Critic, I Put Away Critical Things

Today, at a multiplex near you, Steve Carell loses it at the movies with The 40-Year-Old Virgin. As Andy Switzer, the film's eponymous virgin, finally gets to know a woman, you know, biblically, critics across the country are turning to The Bible itself to make sense of the Universal comedy.

Well, not the whole Bible: more like a single turn of phrase from the Bible.

"Andy must calculate how many childish things he must put away to make room for the love of a good woman..." - The Opposite of Sex, by Jessica Winter, The Village Voice, Aug. 16, 2005.

"Andy puts away these childish things at least temporarily after three of his fellow workers stumble onto his secret, throwing a wrench into his orderly, celibate existence." - Losing His Innocence, Not a Minute Too Soon, by Manohla Dargis, The New York Times, Aug. 19, 2005.

"Andy isn't the only one who has to put away childish things..." - The Virgin' mirth, by Joanna Connors, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Aug. 19, 2005.

"So she's attracted by Andy's innocence — turned on by it — even before she knows why he's so innocent, while he's inspired by her to finally put away childish things (or, at least, auction them on the Internet)." - Sex and the Pocket Protector, by Soctt Foundas, LA Weekly, Aug. 19-25, 2005.

Matt Haber
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