NOTE: The review on the actual film was written back when the film was in theaters. The extras that are reviewed were done a few days ago.
“Zack and Miri Make a Porno”
2008
**** out of ****
Director: Kevin Smith
Cast: Seth Rogan, Elizabeth Banks, Craig Robinson
I have a confession – I’m a hardcore Kevin Smith fan.
It’s no secret, actually. From the VHS days, my first Kevin Smith film was “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.” I’ll never forget the day that I rented it – my mom was going into labor the day after, and she allowed me to rent one movie. I decided to rent this movie, and I had no idea what I was getting into. Within the first few minutes, the film fired off at least fifteen f-words, and it made me the way I am today. What made me more interested is that this was the fifth film in the “Jersey Trilogy,” as Kevin Smith called it. Over the years I rented Smith’s other films and I cannot find a dull moment in any of them. And when I heard he was making his second film away from the Jersey films, you KNEW I jumped on it… especially when the title was “Zack and Miri Make a Porno.”
And believe me, I’ve been looking forward to this movie every single day since it was announced. I bought a ticket for his Q&A in Red Bank so I could just hear him talk about the film one week after it released in theaters (which I will write about November 8th, the night after). Back in June, I thought that I wouldn’t be looking forward to a film more than Pixar’s “Wall-E,” but I was wrong. “Zack and Miri” isn’t necessarily my favorite of the two, but it is my favorite comedy of the year and Kevin Smith’s best film.
Zack (Seth Rogan) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) have been best friends for almost all of their lives. For ten years, they’ve lived together and have shared each other’s company in their home in Monroeville, Pennsylvania. And like everyone else in the world, Zack and Miri have problems with money. After Miri has gained internet fame as being recognized as “granny-panties,” and after Zack meets a gay porn star (Justin Long) at a high school reunion, they decide the only way to get out of their financial problems is to make a porno.
So Zack gears up his best friend Delaney (Craig Robinson) to act as the producer and his hockey teammate Deacon (Jeff Anderson) to shoot the porno, and there begins the auditions… but the question is begged on both Zack and Miri’s side… will they have sex in this new porno? And will it affect their friendship?
I don’t want to get too into the humor and spoil any hilarious jokes (and believe me, there are a few hilarious ones, including one joke that you’ll miss if you don’t play very close attention), but I’ll set up a scenario for you guys. Say if you are wary about a new comedy that is being released into theaters. You think it’ll be funny, but you don’t want to waste your money on it with the chances that it might not be deadly hilarious. So you find it on the internet via bootleg, and you begin to watching it. It’s a great quality, but it is so damn funny that you are missing bits and pieces of the dialogue because people are cracking up laughing. Unfortunately, you don’t understand what jokes are being said and you will end up hating the movie.
The theater that I went to go see “Zack and Miri” in was literally packed. It was filled with Kevin Smith fans, moviegoers, and teenagers who snuck in. And we all had one consensus of the film – we all loved it. Everyone in the theater laughed. The crowd went wild throughout the entire picture. We cheered for the characters and we let them walk into our lives. We related to them and their feelings. Though most of us haven’t made a porno, we’ve all been in situations like this before, whether if it was the whole “just-friends” deal, the financial shit, and facing your high-school class at your reunion. Even I don’t want the third one.
The movie has everything, but the one thing that shines more than anything is the chemistry. We have chemistry all over the place from every single actor. They all get along very well with each other and they are all a joy to see on screen with each other. Jason Mewes is continuing to prove that he can do something other than play Jay, but it might take a little bit more work. (Sidenote: I think that Mewes character is just as, or even more, hornier than Jay was.) Pornstars Katie Morgan and Traci Lords have bits in the film that are pretty memorable, but not as memorable as the supporting role played by Craig Robinson. I don’t think that a team had such a better sidekick, but god, was I wrong. He’s so good in this movie that by the end of the weekend, I can promise you that the guy will be flooded with offers to star in new comedies.
The film isn’t without the usual Kevin Smith cameo appearances. No, Ben Affleck and Jason Lee don’t appear, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some awesome performances by some cameo actors. The scene at the high-school reunion is absolutely hilarious, but that isn’t done without the help of Brandon Routh and Justin Long. Smith’s wife Jennifer Schwalbach Smith also has a little cameo in the film, which is hilarious for all of the wrong reasons. Tom Savini comes out of nowhere with a little cameo too, as ironic as it sounds (being shot in Monroeville, where “Dawn of the Dead” was also shot). Tyler Labine gives an excellent cameo by just shooting outta nowhere.
“Zack and Miri” isn’t without… well… Zack and Miri. Both Seth Rogan and Elizabeth Banks have the best chemistry that I’ve seen in any Kevin Smith movie. First off, think about what that means – Dante and Randall, Jay and Silent Bob, Holden and Alyssa, Bartleby and Loki, Quint and Brodie – Zack and Miri beat them all. They have chemistry throughout the film – when they are just normal everyday people who are just friends, from when they are making the porno, and from when a sudden twist comes. Nothing changes; their amazing chemistry remains the same.
Which leads me to the writing and directing. I recall Seth Rogan saying something in the movie along the lines as, “Acting and directing at the same time is harder than it looks.” I can see why Kevin Smith sat out for this film. I’ve read tons of reviews coming from different websites that it is almost like Kevin Smith is trying to cash-in on the new Judd Apatow movies by making his very own Apatow flick. I’ve read comments on forums and blogs that say stuff such as Kevin Smith forgot to add jokes in the second half. I’ve read people who actually thought this was Kevin Smith’s worst film because the film isn’t like his other films.
Because moviegoers, may I direct your attention to “Chasing Amy.” His third film is his most well-received one, but it was well-received for a reason – it wasn’t a comedy, but it was a romantic comedy. Kevin Smith made this movie a couple of years before Apatow came on the scene. The second half of “Chasing Amy” has little to no jokes, but is basically compiled of dialogue about life’s troubles. Tell me now – doesn’t “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” sound like another one of his films? Almost like that he hasn’t lost any of his touch?
I want to end this review on a note that I’ll be able to put this on my Best of 2008 list at the end of the year. Folks, Kevin Smith never went anywhere. He put a few of his characters to rest for a while so he could try something new and what he tried was a little shift in his path. It isn’t a huge one, but for a guy that is planning on taking on a horror flick and a sci-fi flick in the span of a few years, it’s a step. There is nothing offending in “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” but there is enough for you to fall in love with the new characters.
Like I said before, I’ll always be a Kevin Smith fan until the day I die.
EXTRAS:
The DVD features a multitude of extras, but not one of them is a commentary that I would have liked to have heard by Kevin Smith and the rest of the cast on the making of the film, but that’s not too much of a big deal. The first disc has over an hour and a half of deleted scenes, including a twenty minute deleted scene with just Justin Long and Brandon Routh going back and forth at each other. A lot of these were very funny scenes – some I could have seen why they were cut out from the movie, others I can’t.
On the second disc there is an hour and fifteen minute long featurette of the making of the film. It’s interesting to see how they did a lot of the film, including one “shot” in particular. (Though I heard a lot of these stories while I was at a Kevin Smith show in Red Bank, it was nice to revisit those memories.) There are your standard outtakes and bloopers, and about twenty minutes from the panel at this year’s Comic Con are featured on the DVD. About forty-five minutes of Webisodes called “Money Shots” are included on the DVD, which were uploaded on the internet before the film’s theatrical release. Rounding the DVD release is “Seth vs. Justin,” where Seth Rogan and Justin Long just improvise jokes the entire time.
“Zack and Miri Make a Porno”
2008
**** out of ****
Director: Kevin Smith
Cast: Seth Rogan, Elizabeth Banks, Craig Robinson
I have a confession – I’m a hardcore Kevin Smith fan.
It’s no secret, actually. From the VHS days, my first Kevin Smith film was “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.” I’ll never forget the day that I rented it – my mom was going into labor the day after, and she allowed me to rent one movie. I decided to rent this movie, and I had no idea what I was getting into. Within the first few minutes, the film fired off at least fifteen f-words, and it made me the way I am today. What made me more interested is that this was the fifth film in the “Jersey Trilogy,” as Kevin Smith called it. Over the years I rented Smith’s other films and I cannot find a dull moment in any of them. And when I heard he was making his second film away from the Jersey films, you KNEW I jumped on it… especially when the title was “Zack and Miri Make a Porno.”
And believe me, I’ve been looking forward to this movie every single day since it was announced. I bought a ticket for his Q&A in Red Bank so I could just hear him talk about the film one week after it released in theaters (which I will write about November 8th, the night after). Back in June, I thought that I wouldn’t be looking forward to a film more than Pixar’s “Wall-E,” but I was wrong. “Zack and Miri” isn’t necessarily my favorite of the two, but it is my favorite comedy of the year and Kevin Smith’s best film.
Zack (Seth Rogan) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) have been best friends for almost all of their lives. For ten years, they’ve lived together and have shared each other’s company in their home in Monroeville, Pennsylvania. And like everyone else in the world, Zack and Miri have problems with money. After Miri has gained internet fame as being recognized as “granny-panties,” and after Zack meets a gay porn star (Justin Long) at a high school reunion, they decide the only way to get out of their financial problems is to make a porno.
So Zack gears up his best friend Delaney (Craig Robinson) to act as the producer and his hockey teammate Deacon (Jeff Anderson) to shoot the porno, and there begins the auditions… but the question is begged on both Zack and Miri’s side… will they have sex in this new porno? And will it affect their friendship?
I don’t want to get too into the humor and spoil any hilarious jokes (and believe me, there are a few hilarious ones, including one joke that you’ll miss if you don’t play very close attention), but I’ll set up a scenario for you guys. Say if you are wary about a new comedy that is being released into theaters. You think it’ll be funny, but you don’t want to waste your money on it with the chances that it might not be deadly hilarious. So you find it on the internet via bootleg, and you begin to watching it. It’s a great quality, but it is so damn funny that you are missing bits and pieces of the dialogue because people are cracking up laughing. Unfortunately, you don’t understand what jokes are being said and you will end up hating the movie.
The theater that I went to go see “Zack and Miri” in was literally packed. It was filled with Kevin Smith fans, moviegoers, and teenagers who snuck in. And we all had one consensus of the film – we all loved it. Everyone in the theater laughed. The crowd went wild throughout the entire picture. We cheered for the characters and we let them walk into our lives. We related to them and their feelings. Though most of us haven’t made a porno, we’ve all been in situations like this before, whether if it was the whole “just-friends” deal, the financial shit, and facing your high-school class at your reunion. Even I don’t want the third one.
The movie has everything, but the one thing that shines more than anything is the chemistry. We have chemistry all over the place from every single actor. They all get along very well with each other and they are all a joy to see on screen with each other. Jason Mewes is continuing to prove that he can do something other than play Jay, but it might take a little bit more work. (Sidenote: I think that Mewes character is just as, or even more, hornier than Jay was.) Pornstars Katie Morgan and Traci Lords have bits in the film that are pretty memorable, but not as memorable as the supporting role played by Craig Robinson. I don’t think that a team had such a better sidekick, but god, was I wrong. He’s so good in this movie that by the end of the weekend, I can promise you that the guy will be flooded with offers to star in new comedies.
The film isn’t without the usual Kevin Smith cameo appearances. No, Ben Affleck and Jason Lee don’t appear, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some awesome performances by some cameo actors. The scene at the high-school reunion is absolutely hilarious, but that isn’t done without the help of Brandon Routh and Justin Long. Smith’s wife Jennifer Schwalbach Smith also has a little cameo in the film, which is hilarious for all of the wrong reasons. Tom Savini comes out of nowhere with a little cameo too, as ironic as it sounds (being shot in Monroeville, where “Dawn of the Dead” was also shot). Tyler Labine gives an excellent cameo by just shooting outta nowhere.
“Zack and Miri” isn’t without… well… Zack and Miri. Both Seth Rogan and Elizabeth Banks have the best chemistry that I’ve seen in any Kevin Smith movie. First off, think about what that means – Dante and Randall, Jay and Silent Bob, Holden and Alyssa, Bartleby and Loki, Quint and Brodie – Zack and Miri beat them all. They have chemistry throughout the film – when they are just normal everyday people who are just friends, from when they are making the porno, and from when a sudden twist comes. Nothing changes; their amazing chemistry remains the same.
Which leads me to the writing and directing. I recall Seth Rogan saying something in the movie along the lines as, “Acting and directing at the same time is harder than it looks.” I can see why Kevin Smith sat out for this film. I’ve read tons of reviews coming from different websites that it is almost like Kevin Smith is trying to cash-in on the new Judd Apatow movies by making his very own Apatow flick. I’ve read comments on forums and blogs that say stuff such as Kevin Smith forgot to add jokes in the second half. I’ve read people who actually thought this was Kevin Smith’s worst film because the film isn’t like his other films.
Because moviegoers, may I direct your attention to “Chasing Amy.” His third film is his most well-received one, but it was well-received for a reason – it wasn’t a comedy, but it was a romantic comedy. Kevin Smith made this movie a couple of years before Apatow came on the scene. The second half of “Chasing Amy” has little to no jokes, but is basically compiled of dialogue about life’s troubles. Tell me now – doesn’t “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” sound like another one of his films? Almost like that he hasn’t lost any of his touch?
I want to end this review on a note that I’ll be able to put this on my Best of 2008 list at the end of the year. Folks, Kevin Smith never went anywhere. He put a few of his characters to rest for a while so he could try something new and what he tried was a little shift in his path. It isn’t a huge one, but for a guy that is planning on taking on a horror flick and a sci-fi flick in the span of a few years, it’s a step. There is nothing offending in “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” but there is enough for you to fall in love with the new characters.
Like I said before, I’ll always be a Kevin Smith fan until the day I die.
EXTRAS:
The DVD features a multitude of extras, but not one of them is a commentary that I would have liked to have heard by Kevin Smith and the rest of the cast on the making of the film, but that’s not too much of a big deal. The first disc has over an hour and a half of deleted scenes, including a twenty minute deleted scene with just Justin Long and Brandon Routh going back and forth at each other. A lot of these were very funny scenes – some I could have seen why they were cut out from the movie, others I can’t.
On the second disc there is an hour and fifteen minute long featurette of the making of the film. It’s interesting to see how they did a lot of the film, including one “shot” in particular. (Though I heard a lot of these stories while I was at a Kevin Smith show in Red Bank, it was nice to revisit those memories.) There are your standard outtakes and bloopers, and about twenty minutes from the panel at this year’s Comic Con are featured on the DVD. About forty-five minutes of Webisodes called “Money Shots” are included on the DVD, which were uploaded on the internet before the film’s theatrical release. Rounding the DVD release is “Seth vs. Justin,” where Seth Rogan and Justin Long just improvise jokes the entire time.
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