AFTER Pearl Harbour and Black Hawk Down, Josh Hartnett has become a star overnight. Now he has taken on comedy, something that could add to his success or badly damage his growing credibility.

After being dumped by his girlfriend, Matt (Hartnett) embarks on a string of one-night stands to get her out of his head. However, these make him feel much worse, so he gives up sex altogether.

But then he meets the girl of his dreams, Erica, which makes him feel even worse than before, as sex begins to take over his mind.

Hyped as another American Pie or Road Trip, 40 Days and 40 Nights cannot be compared with them, but is an amusing treat.

Directed by Michael Lehmann and written by Rob Perez, it is daring and original at times and a lot of the praise must go to Hartnett.

No matter what he does, Hartnett always gets a grilling from the critics (probably due to the critical bombarding of Pearl Harbour) and he has been said to be miscast in this film.

Well, Empire magazine, if he manages to help create the laughs and do really well at the slapstick content, how can he be miscast? He's perfect for the role.

Despite director Lehmann doing his job correctly, there isn't really anything he should be credited for. Fair enough, he makes the right shots, but it's the script's strength and wit and the performance of both Hartnett and Shannyn Sossamon that makes the film successful.

The love story does go on a bit though.

Describing some of the jokes may be crossing the line for a family newspaper, but I think you get the idea. For the 15-30s, especially men, due to there being a lot of naked women, this is an ideal film.