Director Craig Moss kept running into the same road block while pitching comedy projects around Hollywood.
“The only way to get a comedy made is if your name is Judd Apatow,” Moss says of the brains behind “Knocked Up” and “Funny People.”
“This guy is a genre. We need to parody him,” he says.
So Moss shot a short trailer for just such a project which led to “The 41-Year-Old Virgin Who Knocked Up Sarah Marshall and Felt Superbad About It.”
The film, just released on DVD, recalls some of the great comedy scenes from the Apatow library.
Moss, an unabashed fan of Apatow’s work, says the comedy writer/producer’s projects carry similar themes.
“It’s the same protagonist – the underachieving, average guy who gets the hot girl in the end,” he says.
“The 41-Year-Old Virgin” follows a similar path, casting “MADtv” veteran Bryan Callen as Andy, a lonely guy who bumbles his way into love with little help from his friends.
Watch but a few minutes of “Virgin” and you’d swear “Superbad” himself, Jonah Hill, had decided to parody his own boss.
“We wanted to make sure we were casting characters who actually look like the [Apatow regulars]. That became a priority,” he says.
It worked a little too well.
“We were on location deep in the hot part of the valley and some kids came around to get Steven Sims‘ autograph thinking he was Jonah Hill. He’s like a dead ringer,” he says.
Moss’ movie can be as gross as any Apatow production – and then some. This site can’t even print the spin on the McLovin character’s name from “Superbad.”
But he wasn’t worried about offending anyone.
“I have no line, no boundaries … we just try to go for everything,” he says of his approach. “Some things in there are very outrageous, and it’s keeping in line with those types of comedies.”
“Virgin” features a quick tease of the “Twilight” franchise, something Moss will be exploring in greater depth soon with a full-scale feature inspired by the teen vampire films.
“We’re very excited to parody that franchise. I have the utmost love for it. It’s ready to get lampooned,” he says.
Moss, who grew up worshiping the comedies of Mel Brooks and the Zucker brothers, would love the chance to pick Apatow’s brain about screen comedy.
For now, he’ll have to settle for paying homage to Apatow’s body of work.
“I love all those films,” he says. The purpose of “The 41-Year-Old Virgin” was “to take those scenes that really were hysterical, that sparked me … to create something crazier than what was there.”
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Re. Moss’s first quote: so how do you explain Todd Phillips, whose “The Hangover” was a bigger hit than anything Apatow’s been associated with?
I think young filmmakers, in general, struggle to get their first few projects off the ground. Phillips is an established comedy brand at this point (Old School, Starsky & Hutch) and Moss is just beginning his career, it would appear. But your point remains – some projects simply break through despite a tough marketplace. I found his anecdote interesting so I lead with it …
I had heard a radio advertisement for this movie and assumed that it was a joke! I’m disappointed that you weren’t able to ask the director how his film is different from the bottom feeding “Meet the Spartans”/”Not Another…” flicks?