Year of Release: 2008
Director: Kevin Smith
Starring: Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Craig Robinson, Traci Lords, Justin Long, Jason Mewes, Katie Morgan, Brandon Routh, Jeff Anderson, Ricky Mabe, Gerry Bednob, Tom Savini, Tyler Labine, Tisha Campbell, Lauren Anne Miller
Genre: Comedy
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6
Watch it on Amazon Prime
Synopsis and Review
After "Jersey Girl" and "Clerks II" failed to ignite as much attention as his earlier work did, writer/director Kevin Smith bounced back with "Zack and Miri Make a Porno", which he also authored. The film follows the story of two best friends who have been living together for quite some time. Zack and Miri have known each other since they're children and have been great friends, but as they're navigating early adulthood, not all is going as smoothly as they expected. For starters, they're stuck in jobs that they don't care much for, and that don't necessarily pay much. As a result of that, their utilities are progressively being disconnected. Everything changes when they go to their high school reunion, and they meet up with Bobby Long, whom Miri has long had a crush on. While Miri is trying a seducing game with Bobby, Zack casually meets Brandon, who turns out is Bobby's boyfriend and works in gay adult features (as does Bobby). Inspired by Brandon, Zack and Miri decide that the solution to their money woes is to actually direct and star in an amateur porn feature. They start by securing funding from Zack's co-worker Delaney, and they soon open casting auditions for the remaining players, while simultaneously hiring someone to do the cinematography/editing work behind it. They also settle on a title and theme for the feature, however just as they're about to start, some location challenges occur, something that Zack creatively solves by changing the location for the coffee shop where he works. However more challenges lie ahead.
While "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" seemingly tries to tackle a subject matter that is typically not very palatable for many audiences, it only mildly does so in the context of a romantic comedy, one that contains some raunchier jokes and very brief nudity. And also for all that the title suggests, it's in reality a film that lives within the constraints of a very romanticized version of reality, as opposed to what Paul Schrader for instance captured in his film "Hardcore". Kevin Smith manages to capture the great chemistry that Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks have (which they also showcased in Judd Appatow's "The 40 Year Old Virgin"), and that is ultimately what makes the film breezy and compelling. The whole aspect of capturing the making of the porno, is of course performed for jokes (almost directly taken from David Zucker's school of comedy and "Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear"), since the film is at its core, this get together for two people who are meant to be together, and just never really realized it before. While the lead characters have charm in spades, most of the supporting and colorful players are reduced to clichés, even if at times they're quite funny ones. The cast is uniformly solid, with Justin Long however actually stealing all the scenes in which he is in. While not necessarily the most impressive film of Kevin Smith's directorial career, it's nonetheless an entertaining and sweet film worth watching.
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