Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)

Wow! Such a good movie.

hyped garbage

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Lifelong platonic friends Zack and Miri look to solve their respective cash-flow problems by making an adult film together. As the cameras roll, however, the duo begin to sense that they may have more feelings for each other than they previously thought. Zack and Miri Make a Porno is unfortunately your typical Kevin Smith flick with a bunch of his friends making cameos but also your typical in your face comedy that has nudity in it and in my opinion? It doesn't work as he might have hoped. The film had some good moments but overall? Forgettable.

I don't know how objective I'm capable to be when it comes to Kevin Smith movies, but to me this was awesome. Essentially, this is classic romance comedy, but wrapped in completely unusual package. Politically incorrect, vulgar, perverse, and most of all fun. I'm sorry I didn't see it back when it was released, cause I would know it by heart by now. Roommates and best friends since childhood, Zack and Miri, have seemingly hopeless financial troubles, so they decide to get back on their feet by making a porno. If I still didn't persuade you to see this flick, I will just say that lead roles in their porno, beside of course themselves, play Jason Mewes, Katie Morgan and Traci Lords. Now, if you have no idea who are at least some of the legends I mentioned above, then you shouldn't watch this movie and feel free to continue living under your puritan rock. :P9/10

Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008): Dir: Kevin Smith / Cast: Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Craig Robinson, Traci Lords, Jason Mewes: Comedy that addresses the amateur quality of porn flicks. Seth Rogan and Elizabeth Banks play roommates who resort to making a porn flick when they are threatened with a possible eviction. It is obvious that this couple will eventually surface their true feelings resulting in a conventional ending. Great idea directed with insight by Kevin Smith but it doesn't rank with his best work, which includes Chasing Amy, Clerks and Clerks 2. Rogen and Banks have great comic potential and here is a script with promising originality and rather than poke fun of the amateur quality of it all, they will do the obvious, which is tease viewers with romantic elements that were in plain sight to begin with. The ending is also a cheap payoff where certain people end up in certain places with lame explanations to clear everything up. Scene stealing supporting work by Craig Robinson who works at a coffee shop and is bullied by his wife. He has a hilarious scene where he audition actors. Traci Lords plays a porn actress with a knack for bubbles. Jason Mewes also makes a terrific stretch from his usual Jay persona to playing a porno star stripper with attitude. Expect graphic nudity but also expect to laugh at the absurdity of adult entertainment. Score: 7 / 10

The problem Smith often encounters is that sometimes it feels like he's throwing F-words, vibrator, pussy, and jerk-off jokes at us a little too easily and it doesn't really jive well with the sweeter side that comes later. As an example, watch "Jersey Girl." Just here he has a good balance for the most part. It starts off a little shaky but settles in nicely with crude jokes that earn big laughs. A diarrhea gag is priceless, a character named Bubbles has a unique talent, and the names themselves are great fun, take the David Mamet inspired "Glen and Garry Suck Ross' Cock" for example. It gets gooey but Smith keeps things down to Earth with an endearing love story about sex and the jealousy and uncomfortable and sensitive nature that surrounds it. It's nothing new. Everything mentioned has been explored to death on every network sitcom ever produced but it keeps its sweetness and that's really what counts here.Rogen is a big, doughy, lovable ball of enthusiasm and he's always fun to watch. And Banks is adorable, has good comedic chemistry with Rogen but most importantly both actors bring a gentle and heartwarming romance to the screen. The rest of the cast is a big help, starting with "The Offices" Craig Robinson, who nails every line the character has, whether it's defying what he believes to be racism, talking about his wife,