» The Incredible Hulk

» The Happening

» Fido

» Good Luck Chuck

» The Incredible Hulk

» Bollywood rewards best

» Prince Caspian

» Definitely, Maybe

» Dutt eyes Indian politics

» Still got the sparkle

Today, 03 December 2008

» Crisis is killing us

» Cholera in Limpopo River

» Remove Mugabe - Cope

» Mandela anti-Bok - Butana

» HRT and periods

Yesterday, 02 December 2008

» 'Jesus' comment furore

» Remove Mugabe - Cope

» Zoo Awards 2008

» Mbete's crime solution

» Boks handed tough draw

To tie in with the release of "40 Days And 40 Nights" on June 14, we're offering five iafrica.com readers a chance to win a fabulous movie hamper! Click here to enter!

Young Hollywood star Josh Hartnett, seen recently in "Black Hawk Down", is being hailed by many as "the next big thing" and the "new Keanu Reeves", and it's certainly his role in "40 Days And 40 Nights" that proves the saving grace of this largely smutty movie.

Certainly the moral minority (majority?) have been upset by the movie's crassness, misogyny and even blasphemy, though others have found it postively entertaining, and have even found it a relevant look at love in modern times.

Directed by Michael Lehmann, who brought us the cult teen flick "Heathers" some time ago, "40 Days And 40 Nights" is essentially a teen sex movie, and should appeal mostly to young guys (though Josh Hartnett is sure to get many a young girl buying a ticket, too).

It's about a young man, Matt (played by Hartnett), who is suffering from post-relationship blues six months after its demise. Not quite over his sultry ex, Nicole (Vinessa Shaw), he throws himself into a string of empty physical relationships that ultimately lead him to feel empty and unhappy. His solution is to give up sex and anything sexual for the 40 days of Lent.

This proves empowering to him, even as women start throwing themselves at him, but becomes a tad more difficult when he meets the girl of his dreams, Erica (Shannyn Sossamon), at the local laundromat. Erica doesn't know about Matt's vow of abstinence and, making things more complicated, Matt's co-workers start betting about how long he'll be able to keep it up.

The film was produced by Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, the team that made "Notting Hill" and "Bridget Jones' Diary", though the humour is altogether more crude than the more clever and witty dialogue offered by these other two films.

I'm sure every teenager out there will love it!