Kevin Smith Makes a Porno

  • Title: Zack and Miri Make a Porno
  • IMDB: link

“Sometimes you need someone else to show you the things you can’t see.”

The latest from writer/director Kevin Smith focuses on two lifelong friends and roommates who find themselves under a mountain of debt with no money to pay off rising expenses.

Out of other, more conventional, options Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) decide to make a porno together in hopes of raising enough money to get their water and heat turned back on.

Those familiar with Smith’s films will feel right at home here with the vulgar humor tinged with some sweetness.  There’s also some Star Wars references thrown in, and I would like to know what George Lucas thought of Zack and Miri’s first porno idea.

You’ll also notice some staples of the View Askew universe in small roles including Jason Mewes, Jennifer Schwalbach, and Jeff Anderson as those who chip in to help on the film.

Although it’s nice to see the familiar faces its the newcomers who fair best here.  Banks and Rogen have a nice chemistry and are well-cast as friends who could be more, Katie Morgan and Traci Lords (wait until you learn why she is called Bubbles) provide some memorable moments, Brandon Routh has a funny cameo during the high school reunion (though Justin Long‘s performance is too over-the-top for me), and Craig Robinson, who’s given the best line of the film, nearly steals the show.

There aren’t too many surprises here and you can guess where the story and characters will end up.  For a film about making a porno there’s not as much sex as you would expect in the film (which was initially branded NC-17 by the MPAA), and I like how it’s used mostly as a vehicle for humor and to develop the relationship between the two leads.

Zack and Miri won’t knock your socks off but it’s a fun potty-mouth filled film (at times litrally) with a nice message of friendship and love mixed in.  I’m happy to see Smith put on a film which doesn’t star Ben Affleck or the center around the Clerks duo, but now I hope he branches out even more with his next project and tries something a little different.