C’mon Salt Lake City! Lighten up a little! You can’t stand a raunchy and sweet movie like Kevin Smith’s “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” but you have no problem with actors dying the most creatively brutal deaths in “Saw V?” Oh the irony! The hypocrisy! Why is that people can be so much more comfortable with violence than they are about sex? Look, I enjoy an ultra violent movie every once in awhile, but every once in awhile I need to lighten up with a good comedy. While is male full frontal nudity so damn scary to people when female full frontal nudity is all but encouraged? I mean really! Did anyone see “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” earlier this year? The penis isn’t hiding from the silver screen anymore! Or keep in mind something that a friend once told the late George Carlin (RIP):
“I’d rather have my son watch a movie with two people making love rather than two people trying to kill one another.”
But anyway, enough with the rant, and on with the review! “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” is the latest movie from Kevin Smith, and the first movie he has made that takes place outside of New Jersey. It takes place in Pittsburgh where we follow the exploits of the title characters who share an apartment, and who have been the best of friends since they were kids. Right now, their lives are hanging by a thread as they are behind on all their bills, and soon lose their water and electricity. Both work at a Starbucks like shop called “Bean n’ Gone” where they waste their lives away like those two guys from the “Clerks” movies. Sound like anyone you know?
The two end up going to their high school reunion where Miri ends up connecting to her biggest crush, football hero Bobby Long (“Superman Returns’” Brandon Routh), in the hopes of having a nice little fling. She has yet to find that Bobby doesn’t “swing that way.” This soon becomes clear as we see Zack talking with Bobby’s boyfriend, Brandon (Justin Long is frackin’ hilarious). Brandon soon reveals to Zack that he is in fact an actor in gay porno films, the stuff that Zack doesn’t quite fit the demographic for.
Later on, when both Zack and Miri are in very dire straits, Zack comes up with the idea of the two of them doing a porno. Miri is not quite up to the idea, but the way Zack sees it, porno is now so mainstream that even Paris Hilton (albeit unintentionally) did one and now hawks her own line of perfume to “tweens.” They end up committing to it despite one thing; they have never had sex with each other. The way they saw it beforehand was that they get along so great that they both sex will just get in the way of the friendship they have a la “When Harry Met Sally.” Of course, you can’t help but get the feeling that Zack would love an opportunity to get up close and personal with Miri, you know?
There’s this line from “Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones” that keeps floating around in my head of when Anakin meets up with Padme again and tells her how she has grown more beautiful. Padme replies:
“Anakin, you’ll always be that little boy I remember from Tatooine.”
I totally remember the audiences groaning after she said that. Ooooh, diss! That line kind of sums up the relationship between Zack and Miri, and we feel we have a pretty good idea of where their relationship will end up at.
Zack is played by Judd Apatow superstar Seth Rogen (“Knocked Up,” “Superbad,” and “Pineapple Express”) who now seems to be Kevin Smith’s new man crush since Ben Affleck doesn’t even have a part in this. Seth is perfect for this role in handling the raunchy and profane material of the movie, and at the same time easily projecting a sweet side to his character that wins the audience over. Elizabeth Banks (“W.”) plays Miri who stays close to Zack throughout their hardships, and who spends nights with Zack in front of a trash can that is burning with all their unpaid bills. The chemistry between these two is very good, and they plan off of each other really well. Both are a lot of fun to watch here.
In addition, Smith has rounded out a great cast to keep the laughs going throughout this ode to porn. Some of the Kevin Smith regulars here like Jason Mewes (the Jay of Jay and Silent Bob) who plays Lester, and he wants to be a porn star being as hopelessly dense as he is. Another Smith regular here is Jeff Anderson (the immortal Randal Graves from “Clerks”) who plays Deacon the cameraman. How he manages to get a movie out of all this insanity is beyond me.
Kevin even goes out of his way to even cast actual porno stars in the movie. The most noticeable here is Katie Morgan who has been featured on some documentaries on HBO about her career (how I know this, I refuse to reveal). She is as perky here as she is on those interviews, and her cheerful presence here is kind of a surprise compared to other actresses in her line of work. Traci Lords is also here, and she shows us an amazing new way to blow bubbles. A former porn actress herself, she has since escaped into the bad taste escapades of John Waters and delightfully so. Both of the actresses being in this movie should show just how mainstream porno is getting, and of how much that scares conservatives to death.
But one of the truly scene stealing performances in this movie belongs to Craig Robinson who plays the producer of the porno, Delaney. Craig is a big kick to watch here as he delivers his lines in a terrifically deadpan manner. At once disgusted at what he is hired to do, he suddenly becomes incredibly enthusiastic when he realizes he gets to do. Delaney also has a pretty hilarious response to when he is asked to work “Black Friday.” Some people take things a little too literally.
Kevin has a lot of fun here skewering the porn films we know from our past but never really admit to knowing. Zack and Miri end up coming up with the title “Star Whores” for their porno. This goes into how so many of these pornos are named after Hollywood blockbusters. See if any of these remind you of anything (some of these I made up):
“Pulp Friction”
“Robocock”
“The Hard Knight”
“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Boner” (Justin Long’s character could easily be cast in this one.)
Smith directs this movie to those who are more familiar with pornos than they would ever care to admit. It’s also an ode to when he started as a filmmaker all those years ago with “Clerks.” Using a hockey stick as a boom mike holder? You can believe that Smith used things like this to get his movie done.
The movie is not as consistently funny as some of his other movies like “Clerks” or “Dogma” among others. Like “Jersey Girl,” it follows a certain formula to where we pretty much know where the story is going to end up. At the same time, Smith gleefully skewers that formula by adding his own brand of raunchy humor. There was one moment I laughed my ass off so much that I literally almost passed out. I say that a lot, but this time I am serious. I fell over, the color went out of my eyes for a second, and things got fuzzy. That’s how hard I was laughing. I refuse to spoil that moment for you, but I will say that I will never look at cake frosting the same way ever again.
Kevin Smith also makes clear the difference between having sex and making love. You clearly see the difference at a pivotal moment in the movie, and it changes everything for the characters, There’s the one nighter, and then there’s the sex that reveals true feelings and that is more than just extraordinary. I may not be an expert on the subject just yet, but I know that much. Smith, after all these years, still gives us down to earth characters which shows he has not come even close to forgetting where he came from.
“Zack and Miri Make a Porno” may not be the best movie of Kevin Smith’s career, but it definitely has its moments of utter hilarity. It also shows that there is more to his movies than New Jersey. By making a break from his usual comic territory, we can and should expect him to go beyond his comfort zone for a good dose of naughty laughs filled with heart.
You keep kicking ass Kevin Smith!
*** out of ****
“I’d rather have my son watch a movie with two people making love rather than two people trying to kill one another.”
But anyway, enough with the rant, and on with the review! “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” is the latest movie from Kevin Smith, and the first movie he has made that takes place outside of New Jersey. It takes place in Pittsburgh where we follow the exploits of the title characters who share an apartment, and who have been the best of friends since they were kids. Right now, their lives are hanging by a thread as they are behind on all their bills, and soon lose their water and electricity. Both work at a Starbucks like shop called “Bean n’ Gone” where they waste their lives away like those two guys from the “Clerks” movies. Sound like anyone you know?
The two end up going to their high school reunion where Miri ends up connecting to her biggest crush, football hero Bobby Long (“Superman Returns’” Brandon Routh), in the hopes of having a nice little fling. She has yet to find that Bobby doesn’t “swing that way.” This soon becomes clear as we see Zack talking with Bobby’s boyfriend, Brandon (Justin Long is frackin’ hilarious). Brandon soon reveals to Zack that he is in fact an actor in gay porno films, the stuff that Zack doesn’t quite fit the demographic for.
Later on, when both Zack and Miri are in very dire straits, Zack comes up with the idea of the two of them doing a porno. Miri is not quite up to the idea, but the way Zack sees it, porno is now so mainstream that even Paris Hilton (albeit unintentionally) did one and now hawks her own line of perfume to “tweens.” They end up committing to it despite one thing; they have never had sex with each other. The way they saw it beforehand was that they get along so great that they both sex will just get in the way of the friendship they have a la “When Harry Met Sally.” Of course, you can’t help but get the feeling that Zack would love an opportunity to get up close and personal with Miri, you know?
There’s this line from “Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones” that keeps floating around in my head of when Anakin meets up with Padme again and tells her how she has grown more beautiful. Padme replies:
“Anakin, you’ll always be that little boy I remember from Tatooine.”
I totally remember the audiences groaning after she said that. Ooooh, diss! That line kind of sums up the relationship between Zack and Miri, and we feel we have a pretty good idea of where their relationship will end up at.
Zack is played by Judd Apatow superstar Seth Rogen (“Knocked Up,” “Superbad,” and “Pineapple Express”) who now seems to be Kevin Smith’s new man crush since Ben Affleck doesn’t even have a part in this. Seth is perfect for this role in handling the raunchy and profane material of the movie, and at the same time easily projecting a sweet side to his character that wins the audience over. Elizabeth Banks (“W.”) plays Miri who stays close to Zack throughout their hardships, and who spends nights with Zack in front of a trash can that is burning with all their unpaid bills. The chemistry between these two is very good, and they plan off of each other really well. Both are a lot of fun to watch here.
In addition, Smith has rounded out a great cast to keep the laughs going throughout this ode to porn. Some of the Kevin Smith regulars here like Jason Mewes (the Jay of Jay and Silent Bob) who plays Lester, and he wants to be a porn star being as hopelessly dense as he is. Another Smith regular here is Jeff Anderson (the immortal Randal Graves from “Clerks”) who plays Deacon the cameraman. How he manages to get a movie out of all this insanity is beyond me.
Kevin even goes out of his way to even cast actual porno stars in the movie. The most noticeable here is Katie Morgan who has been featured on some documentaries on HBO about her career (how I know this, I refuse to reveal). She is as perky here as she is on those interviews, and her cheerful presence here is kind of a surprise compared to other actresses in her line of work. Traci Lords is also here, and she shows us an amazing new way to blow bubbles. A former porn actress herself, she has since escaped into the bad taste escapades of John Waters and delightfully so. Both of the actresses being in this movie should show just how mainstream porno is getting, and of how much that scares conservatives to death.
But one of the truly scene stealing performances in this movie belongs to Craig Robinson who plays the producer of the porno, Delaney. Craig is a big kick to watch here as he delivers his lines in a terrifically deadpan manner. At once disgusted at what he is hired to do, he suddenly becomes incredibly enthusiastic when he realizes he gets to do. Delaney also has a pretty hilarious response to when he is asked to work “Black Friday.” Some people take things a little too literally.
Kevin has a lot of fun here skewering the porn films we know from our past but never really admit to knowing. Zack and Miri end up coming up with the title “Star Whores” for their porno. This goes into how so many of these pornos are named after Hollywood blockbusters. See if any of these remind you of anything (some of these I made up):
“Pulp Friction”
“Robocock”
“The Hard Knight”
“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Boner” (Justin Long’s character could easily be cast in this one.)
Smith directs this movie to those who are more familiar with pornos than they would ever care to admit. It’s also an ode to when he started as a filmmaker all those years ago with “Clerks.” Using a hockey stick as a boom mike holder? You can believe that Smith used things like this to get his movie done.
The movie is not as consistently funny as some of his other movies like “Clerks” or “Dogma” among others. Like “Jersey Girl,” it follows a certain formula to where we pretty much know where the story is going to end up. At the same time, Smith gleefully skewers that formula by adding his own brand of raunchy humor. There was one moment I laughed my ass off so much that I literally almost passed out. I say that a lot, but this time I am serious. I fell over, the color went out of my eyes for a second, and things got fuzzy. That’s how hard I was laughing. I refuse to spoil that moment for you, but I will say that I will never look at cake frosting the same way ever again.
Kevin Smith also makes clear the difference between having sex and making love. You clearly see the difference at a pivotal moment in the movie, and it changes everything for the characters, There’s the one nighter, and then there’s the sex that reveals true feelings and that is more than just extraordinary. I may not be an expert on the subject just yet, but I know that much. Smith, after all these years, still gives us down to earth characters which shows he has not come even close to forgetting where he came from.
“Zack and Miri Make a Porno” may not be the best movie of Kevin Smith’s career, but it definitely has its moments of utter hilarity. It also shows that there is more to his movies than New Jersey. By making a break from his usual comic territory, we can and should expect him to go beyond his comfort zone for a good dose of naughty laughs filled with heart.
You keep kicking ass Kevin Smith!
*** out of ****
It does not wow you like his his others at first, but I have to say it grows on you.
It is a very sweet film and for that I'm grateful.
I loved Craig Robinson and Traci Lords in this film.
Plus Rogen and Banks had great chemistry.
It's pretty good in my book.
Awesome review!!