Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Opening Date: 10/24/2008

TRAILER: Trailer

ACCOMPLICES: Official Site

The Charge
Kevin Smith + pornography = box office gold!

Opening Statement
With a subject matter as controversial is this, you can bet Kevin Smith’s newest comedy, Zack and Miri Make a Porno will be an uproariously good time. In fact, if you made this bet in Vegas, you’d come home winning money.

Facts of the Case
Roommates Zack (Seth Rogan, Knocked Up) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks, The 40 Year Old Virgin) have known each other since grade school, and are the closest of friends. Strictly platonic, mind you; more of a brother-sister relationship. As they prepare to attend their tenth high school reunion, each reflects on the status of their lives: broke, lonely and poor. Zack plans on getting very drunk, and Miri the same.

But when their limited financial assets fail to pay the bills one too many times and their utilites are shut off, reality finally dawns on the pair: they need a plan or they’ll lose the roof over their heads. For Zack, the answer is clear: make a porno! How many people at their reunion would pay to see two old classmates getting it on? At least a hundred. At twenty dollars a tape, that will pay off all their debts. Miri is less impressed with the idea, but gradually comes around to the financial possibilities.

As they begin to recruit friends and associates into volunteering to work on the production (both behind the camera and in front) Zack and Miri try to come to terms with their inevitable on-screen coupling. As strictly platonic friends, they assure each other that this is strictly a business arrangement, and nothing will change between them. Oh, the best laid plans…

The Evidence
At its core, Zack and Miri Make a Porno is the simplest, most straightfoward film writer/director Kevin Smith has ever made, a by-the-books romantic comedy (albeit an unbelievably filthy one.) Despite the constant foul language and on-screen pornography-making, the film adheres to well-traveled romcom roads. Any of this sound familiar? Guy and girl are “just friends”, guy and girl face adversity together, guy and girl realize their feelings run deep, guy and girl fight like crazy until the happy ending! It’s all very squishy and predictable and appealingly straightforward. The film tries its best to throw up red herrings, twists and turns along the way, but ultimately stays firmly on the romantic comedy road, and it’s just as well—the end result is immensely satisfying, offering up just enough spice and variety to make things feel fresh and fun.

Smith’s success with his fans has always stemmed from his wordplay and filthy prose, not his directorial styling. In similar fashion to his previous works, the best moments in Zack and Miri Make a Porno are dialogue driven; just conversations between two characters where the outrageous back-and-forth banter makes you wet your pants with cramped laughter. Seth Rogan does a fine job with the material, but his career of late has been built on entirely this style of film, so no surprises here. The real shock is Elizabeth Banks, whose career has not. How well she holds her own is impressive, both in quirky banter and emotional resonance. The cast is large and well-rounded, but fairly one-dimensional—lots of familiar faces, like Darryl from The Office (Craig Robinson) and Mr. Surya from The 40 Year-Old Virgin (Gerry Bednob) but they all end up playing the exact same roles that made them famous. Generic casting, generic plot… were it not for Smith’s uncannily hilarious pen, things could have been very different for Zack and Miri Make a Porno.

Despite the well-published conflict between Smith and the MPAA regarding the cut of his film, Zack and Miri Make a Porno is not an NC-17 film that barely squeaked by with an R rating. Far from it; with the exception of one or two notable scenes that are pretty out there, there’s nothing here particularly offensive or excessive, especially when compared to Smith’s back catalog. Most of the objections the MPAA had, according to Smith during his Q&A after the screening, were in regards to “thrusting”. There is a complex equation used to determine exactly how much of the on-screen sex can be shown, whether overly graphic or not, based on thrust count, and Smith kept hitting that particular wall. No big deal, really—a few clever cuts later, and you’re in business, and nobody would be the wiser. Then again, you do get Jason Mewes giving the Full Monty, so to speak.

During the screening, this film hit audiences like a comedy-drenched water cannon. People were bowled over in the aisles, laughing themselves silly. The first thirty minutes in particular are like a Gatling gun of gags and jokes, whipped out so fast the audiences can barely keep up. I had to strain against the laughter just to hear the next joke. Smith has nailed a winning combination in this film, a charming mix of sentimentality, teenage nostalgia, uproariously filthy dialogue and witty banter that makes for such a winning combination. Sure, we still have all the hallmarks of a Kevin Smith film: familiar faces (Jason Mewes and Jeff Anderson), endless Star Whores (not a typo) references, pre-pubescent fascination with dick and fart jokes, but the ratio has been tweaked ever-so-slightly. There’s an actual movie here, a really sweet and charming one, and the rapid-fire filth delivery and snarky pop-culture references do not drown out the heart and soul of the picture. It might be the funniest comedy of the year, but funny dialogue does not a good movie make. Luckily for us, Smith gives us the best of both worlds.

If Kevin Smith continues on this path away from the whole Jay and Silent Bob thing (which let’s be honest here, is played out) he could be sitting very pretty. Like, John Hughes for a new generation pretty. Truth be told, despite the titillating title and subject matter (pun intended) Zack and Miri Make a Porno isn’t any more filthy than Smith’s last film, Clerks II, and possesses even more sentimentality and sweetness. It’s the kind of film you’d love to bring your children to see, if you were… um, terrible, terrible parents.

(Editor’s note: seriously, do not bring your kids to see Zack and Miri Make a Porno. Or if you do, don’t hold us responsible.)

Closing Statement
Charmingly sweet, Zack and Miri Make a Porno balances a heartwarming love story with full-on Kevin Smith-style dick and fart jokes. Honestly, it’s the best of both worlds, and audiences and critics alike are going to eat it up with a big, fat spoon.

The Verdict
Suck it, old school Kevin Smith fans: Zack and Miri is his best film to date.

9/10