"Zack and Miri Make a Porno" Review - Written by Anthony Thurber

Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Year: 2008
Director: Kevin Smith
Studio: The Weinstien Company
Stars: Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Craig Robinson
MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 101 Mins


This is truly one of the best years for the comedy genre, as you have films like “Slippery Slope”, “Be Kind Rewind” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” being so funny and entertaining, along with comedies like “Get Smart” and "Tropic Thunder" being better than expected. Now comes Kevin Smith’s latest film “Zack and Miri Makes a Porno”.

The film is about two roommates and lifelong friends, Zack and Miri, who are running out of money, when the basic utilities in their apartment were shut down. Soon, the two come up with the bright idea to make a homemade porno in order to raise the money in which they owe. They begin to enlist their friends into helping them with this project. During this project, they vow that sex wouldn’t change their friendship with one another. But, soon the two begin to discover that there is more to them, as their project turns into something more than their friendship.

If you had to ask me a question on the spot, to who were my three favorite directors, I would say Guillermo Del Toro, Quentin Tarantino, and now I would add Kevin Smith to that list as my third favorite director, after watching this film and “Clerks 2”. He has captured the same level of great directing that he has had in previous films such as “Clerks” and “Dogma”.

"Zack and Miri Make a Porno” was a laugh out loud riot. This film is a great follow-up to “Clerks 2”. Kevin Smith direction was very good, as he pulls off all the stops while staying in the R rating guideline given the subject matter of the film. The film was filmed very well, as mixes the traditional methods of filmmaking with the methods that are used in adult films. Smith mixes both of those methods to give a viewer a side of what adult filmmaking is like. What makes this film so good was his editing. Smith does a good job making the story move along to the point where the ending of the film (which I’ll talk about more in a minute) had that abrupt feel to it, as I was thinking there was more to the story. It’s a good thing, because if it went on, for another ten minutes or so, the ending would have drag on. Also, it would have ruined the flow of the film, as it was perfect. This film is his best editing job yet.

The acting was very good here. Smith does a good job with his actors, as the acting was the best part of the film. It’s amazing how both Seth Rogan and Elizabeth Banks were very good with their performances. One of the things that made their performances very good was the fact they had great chemistry onscreen. They also gave their character’s interesting and funny quirks. It helped me, be invested in their characters and in the film’s story. The film also has a very good supporting cast, which includes Craig Roberson, Jeff Anderson, Jason Mewes, Justin Long, Katie Morgan and Traci Lords. It makes this film, very fun to watch.

Smith screenplay was also very good, as this is one of his best. He goes a good job balancing all the sex comedy aspects with some maturity, as this is not your run of the mill, allout sex comedy. I liked in all of the sex comedy nonsense he doesn't get too carried away with the sex and grossout humor. He does that by focusing on the relationship and friendship of the two main characters. This works very well because I was into the flow of the film where the all the characters were totally likeable. The other thing that I thought Smith did very well was with the ending of the film. If this screenplay was done by a hack, the ending would have been totally different because you would have had needless information, because at the point of the film’s ending, you assume that it’s going to happen, which would have kept the movie going when it didn’t need to. It’s one of those films that deserve to have this abrupt ending. It works because I didn’t expect to end like that. It works perfectly with the flow of the film.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno is truly one of the year best comedies and proves why Kevin Smith is one of the masters of comedy.

Review Rating: Five Stars