My good friend Ryan (who also happens to be a fantastic writer) recently saw This is 40 and had so many feelings about it that he needed a place to get them out. Luckily for us at NGN, he turned to me for a place to share his thoughts and is now the first official Nerdy Guy to join our great group of writers!

Many things conspired to get me into a theater to see This is 40 on a Friday night. Gift cards, mainly, but also a late dinner and the poor scheduling of a Regal Cinemas that only offered showtimes after 8:20 for the Judd Apatow movie and a Texas Chainsaw reboot. I’d still pick This is 40 out of those options–if only because of Freaks and Geeks–but, for the record, Texas Chainsaw 3D was sold out. The evening was doomed from the start.

I don’t have 40 reasons why This is 40 was terrible. That would be all too convenient. My mix of reasons gets lost in a sea of anger over losing $20 in a transaction that gave me back a movie which was 45 minutes too long. I lost money and time I will never get back. Ever. Judd Apatow is trying to kill me.

Sitting through This is 40 made me uncomfortable. It showed on my face. I squirmed and shifted my weight in my seat. I felt trapped. A couple behind me left midway through the movie. They are better people than I and, perhaps, value their time and money with slightly different ratios. Neither of them had a blog post to write, I suppose.

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