Zack And Miri Make A Porno Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES PLOT SUMMARY
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.
| Jeff Anderson | Deacon |
| Gerry Bednob | Mr. Surya |
| Carl Clemons | Night club Patron |
| George Drennen | Rental House Guy |
| Eric Hollenbeck | DJ at reunion |
| Kenny Hotz | Zack II |
| Ivan Kraljevic | Hopeful Stud |
| Tyler Labine | Drunk Customer |
| Justin Long | Brandon |
| Ricky Mabe | Barry |
| Stephen Mast | Audition Man #8 |
| David Dale McCue | High School Coach |
| Jason Mewes | Lester |
| Mike O'Toole | Punk in Mister Rogers' Play Land |
| Mattt Potter | Auditioner |
| Kevin Smith |
7.40 out of 10 (24645 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Cute, Funny, but not quite all there
posted on 27 Aug 2009After seeing one preview I knew I had to see Zach and Miri Make a Porno the day it came out. As a fan of all of Kevin Smith's work (yes, even Jersey Girl) I expected to come out of this movie beaming; adding Seth Rogen to the mix just increased my expectations. What followed my viewing was very unexpected. I was not blown away by this film, nor did I laugh nearly as much as I anticipated. This movie did not feel like a Kevin Smith movie to me. The dialogue is not as sharp or witty as his other endeavors, it actually sounds more like the Apatow improve style, perhaps due to Rogen, but maybe not.Zach and Miri Make a Porno is far from a bad movie, it's actually very cute, especially for a movie containing many of the vulgar words/actions that it does. I found that I legitimately cared for both of the title characters, was entertained by the supporting cast, and some of the dialogue actually made me laugh out loud, but overall the tone of this movie is unlike any Kevin Smith film yet. For some people, that might be a great thing, while others will find it heartbreaking. For me, I'm somewhere in between, and I am anxiously awaiting his next release.
Starts with a "bang," trails off into incoherence
posted on 19 Aug 2009The last half of this movie seems to have been rewritten to satisfy some marketing flacks or a test audience. It halfway tries to be several things without achieving anything all the way.I watched (for the gazillionth time) the unbalanced but goofy/brilliant "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" before watching this and the contrast was glaring. We expect Kevin Smith movies to be a machine gun of gags with about a 70% hit/miss rate."Zack and Miri" was more like a water pistol of obvious, rehashed material with about a 30% hit/miss rate.If you want to see Seth Rogen, get Pineapple Express instead, far superior to Zack & Miri unfortunately.
Zach and Miri make a porno
posted on 17 Aug 2009I am not going to get into the plot of this movie. The title says it all and it is going to scare a lot of people of seeing the movie. This is just an enjoyable film and I don't compare every Kevin Smith's film to Clerks. This is a film that should be more profitable, but the fan base most likely will catch this on DVD. Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks are not the strong points of the movie. A movie like this the leads becomes the supporting cast.Jason Mewes delivers his lines the best then any other movie he has been part of. His Jay character he is good at playing is present. He is just less of a stupid, loud mouth. Jeff Anderson the camera man had two really good parts in the film. Superman's boyfriend Justin Long steals any scene he is part of. He plays the part perfect no one could of done it like him.Least favorite parts: Zach and Miri are enjoyable but I just want to see more of the supporting characters. Indian guyFavorite Parts: Cake and Hockey Recommendation: Go to the film as long you're not going to walk out when you figure out it is a porno.(in my theater that happen, but they miss up on the screens) Rentable film and purchase if you love other Smith's films.
Fun movie
posted on 15 Aug 2009Zack and Miri Make a Porno was hilarious, spunky, fun, and crazy! Okay, not the best movie in the world, but I give it credit for the humor. I liked the cast too. I'm a big fan of Seth Rogen. A lot of the other actors and actresses looked familiar - I will have to do some research and check out what else I have seen them in. And, though I do not like all of his movies, I do like Kevin Smith. There were a lot of good one liners too, as well as quirky cool situations.I have to say, I also think it is quite clever that whoever is in charge of posting pictures for this movie on IMDb - that they made the picture count be "69" - woohoo!
funny, gooey, predictable, outrageous, gleeful, nostalgic, warm, romantic... did I say gooey?
posted on 03 Aug 2009These are some words I would describe for Kevin Smith's latest film not quite from his 'Viewaskewniverse' (if that's really a word), only this time out of New Jersey and in Pittsburgh (acually, the Dawn of the Dead cit Monroeville home of the Monroeville mall, an hockey of course). It is in all basic terms about the title character doing what it says... doing it, and filming it and filming other people doing it with a little camcorder in the place where the two intrepid 20-somethings (Zack, Seth Rogen, Miri, Eizabeth Banks) work. But it is also about Kevin Smith, making a very ridiculous and profane and occasionally (appropriately) gross movie while at the same time also delivering something, well, personal. He gets to have his cake and eat it, while also indulging towards the end in some more romantic-type stuff to fill out the ending.Not that we don't want to see these two characters falling in love and spending together together - on paper. On screen, however, Smith is cribbing (as maybe too many critics have noted) from the Judd Apatow school of comedy. And it's not simply with the casting of Rogen, one of Apatow's sacred bunch of super-talented average-Joe funny-men. It's in what is, t me, something of a sitcom-type of conceit with a man like Rogen, who is not bad looking or ugly but approximately what he appears to be, and pairing him with a very attractive blonde - first, Katheine Heigl, now Elizabeth Banks. One could go on about wanting to see more of a realistic scenario, with Miri not being a super-hot girl but more... s***, 'realistic.' How cruel that may or may not sound I don't know, but by the third act, which does contain some of Smith's most (succesful) romantic dialog since Chasing Amy, doesn't carry the same weight if just because of that notion of a funny/chubby shlub together with a... well, Elizabeth Banks.And yet, for its predictability and moments of pure schmaltz, Zack and Miri Make a Porno is a funny movie, sometimes incredibly funny movie, because Smith has it in him to know what works for not just his own skills as a filmmaker but for his audience. He is, as others have also noted, a kind of Woody Allen for his time, in a sense, which is that Kevin Smith likes to live the life of Kevin Smith and make Kevin Smith movies. Not many can write with both wit and crudeness equally and make it work; sometimes only one on its own will do. But just watch, in a slight throwback to Clerks, the montage of Zack and Mirir trying to come up with porno-movie title names, leading up to 'Star Whores'. Or what makes for half of the flat-out most uproarious scene in the whole running time with Justin Long and Brandon Rouths' characters (Long especially shows how brilliant he can be in the right setting). Or even throwaway scenes with Jason Mewes- yes, he can play someone other than Jay, very well.It's all, in any approximation, good stuff. At the least, for the first half, before it becomes more or less emphasized with romance and conflict of the variety one isn't unfamiliar with in Chasing Amy territory (if only slightly less mature and a tidy ending). It isn't one of the best of Smith's now 8 films since Clerks, but as far as Smith movies go it's true and fun and occasionally deep, which is what counts with a Gen-X auteur like him. 7.5/10
So bad....but so good!
posted on 03 Aug 2009It seems that there isn't anything that Seth Rogan can't do! Walking into this movie, I had very low expectations, expecting just a raunch-fest and little laughs. It definitely was a raunchy movie, but with gut-busting, roll-on-the-nasty-theater-floor laughter as well! The movie is about two platonic friends (Zack and Miri) who get into a dire situation and have to make an adult movie to make the bills. Throughout the film, they find out that making an adult movie together isn't as easy (or as straight-forward business) as they thought, and emotions aren't easily dissuaded. It's also about a ridiculous group of porno-wannabes and their outrageous acts throughout (I tell you..).The movie is so good mostly because of the acting. Honestly, the writing was just so-so and the movie had a, sort of, low-budget feel to it. However, the acting was spot on by all parts. Oh, and gentlemen, there are PLENTY of scenes with full frontal nudity (and ladies, some for you, too!).All-in-all, if you aren't grossed out easily (or, actually, at all), then go see this movie. It is hilarious, it's actually meaningful and heartfelt, and you won't leave it feeling like you need to gouge your eyeballs out. You will feel like you need a shower.Final thoughts: "I *definitely* did not need to see that part.." "So many fine women and so little time...OH MY GOD, THAT'S DISGUSTING!" Final Score - Acting: 10/10 Writing: 7/10 Score: 8/10 Humor: 9/10 Overall Score - 8.5 "Excellent"
Kevin Smith Makes Another Mediocre Movie
posted on 01 Aug 2009Just in time for Halloween, one of the original independent filmmakers, Kevin Smith, gives us something truly frightening … Seth Rogen in a porno. No offense to Seth; I think he's cuddly and all but porn material, I think not. Or maybe I've just been out of the straight porn- watching world for so long that this is what porn has come to. That said, I doubt I'll be making a trip to my local video shop later to catch up on everything I've missed. What's that? I don't have to leave my home for this sort of fare anymore? It is all readily available online at the click of my mouse? And what? I'm supposed to be talking about Smith's latest mild chuckle fest, ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO? I thought we were discussing film worth leaving the house for. ZACK AND MIRI is not that film. Maybe you could download it, I guess.Zack and Miri may be making a porno but it is Kevin Smith making another lazy film that we should be focusing on. See, Smith is hoping that his sensational premise is enough to get you laughing ecstatically. He is primarily hoping for this because this way he can pass off his tired characters and simple jokes as something brand new, something no one has ever tackled in film before. Actually, that is giving him too much credit. The truth of the matter is that Kevin Smith is one of the most overrated filmmakers making movies today. He'd probably be the first to agree with me. This is because Smith doesn't really care about his work and you can feel it in every cliché his characters exist and every joke he sets up. How else can you explain married couple characters who yell at each other incessantly and complain even more so about how horrific and sexless marriage is? Or a party sequence where the camera doesn't move while we jump cut from one dancing fool to the next in full frame? And how can anyone these days justify using the word "faggot" as a meaningless insult, tossed around irresponsibly? Limited is the first word that comes to my mind.Getting back to Zack and Miri (Rogen and the luminous Elizabeth Banks), they are the most enjoyable and charismatic things about this film. Zack and Miri have been friends forever and never have they crossed that scary line and stepped into the realm of sex between friends. They live together, if you want to call their situation living. They're months behind on their rent; their electricity and water have been shut off; and neither one has a job that can actually get them out of this mess they've found themselves in. Naturally, they turn to the world of pornography for salvation. After all, they just found out that they have access to hundreds of contacts on their high school alumni mailing list that will no doubt jump at the chance to see this infamously platonic twosome finally get it on. I don't know about you but if I was so down on my luck that I needed to make porn to bail myself, I'm pretty positive that the high school acquaintances that teased and taunted me at my most fragile moments would not be the first people I would be peddling my wares to. In fact, they would be right up there with my mom. The irony of ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO is that Kevin Smith should feel right at home with the kinds of lower production values pornography calls for. In fact, I think I may have seen amateur porn that is subtler and more original than this film. It is not without its charm or its laughs but ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO is as forgettable as most of Smith's work and not nearly as intriguing as actual porn.
granny pants....
posted on 30 Jul 2009af6ter being filmed in her pants and is a hit on the internet, the titular duo decide that the only way to pay bills and keep their head above water is in the world of porn.what ensues is a sometimes amazing comedy with some excellent performances from all those concerned. but this goes a lot deeper than your average smith comedy (and there is nothing average about them, this bottom of the line, despite the gross moments and the abundant use of profanity and nudity, is a quite sweet love story, that the protagonists do not know exist, until filming begins the story is great and the first act is laugh out loud funny, literally. the second and third act let the film down slightly, but it never really runs out of stean, thanks to Rogen and Banks.the support are great too with some amazing cameos, and the homage to Star Wars, really is up there with the years funniest moments.it's not for everyone, it could easily offend, but underneath all the anarchy, a sweet film is to be found
Porno's were not meant for a story... or are they?
posted on 28 Jul 2009Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Kevin Smith who wrote and directed this, he's made some hit and miss comedies over the years, he's a great writer, he's made some extremely memorable films and characters. Zack and Miri Make a Porno is one of his good, but forgettable films though. Don't get me wrong, this is a very funny movie, it has some great moments, mostly at the beginning though, where as Justin Long just steals the show and you definitely want more of his character in the story. But there are some jokes that just completely gross me out, now I love Kevin Smith, but it seems as if he is now trying to compete with the Apatow clan, because it had that feel to it, only with more gross jokes. I'm sorry, but someone getting feces on them... it's just disgusting and really threw me off for the rest of the film. But Kevin still wrote a decent script that is good for a few laughs.Zack and Miri have been best friends since grade school, they're roommates now and are struggling like crazy to pay their bills. After attending their high school reunion, they meet the former quarterback stud and his boyfriend to find out they make and distribute their own porno's and make very good money at it. So Zack and Miri come on board as well, they're going to make a cheap porno with a group of friends and amateur porn stars. After constant games of who has feelings for who, Zack and Miri realize there might be more there than just a friendship as well.Zack and Miri Make a Porno is a good comedy, I loved the scene where they are shooting their first take, right in the middle of the sex that is taking place in a coffee shop, a drunk as heck customer walks in and just makes it more awkward than it already is. There are some other great scenes in here, while the film has it's really gross jokes and the story is nothing original when it comes to the friends becoming lovers, it was still a fun movie to watch. I just feel like this isn's Kevin Smith's strongest film, but it's worth the ticket price if you're looking for a few laughs, just take the title into consideration if you're thinking about seeing this.7/10
View Askew and Apatow Peeps Make an Awesome Movie.
posted on 28 Jul 2009Thanks to the aptly named title, brilliantly appointed by Kevin Smith (writer, director, and creator of the View Askew Universe), you go into the film with a certain mindset, a dirty one to be exact. This follows the explicit what-you-see-is-what-you-get nature of every pornographic film title, a fact that offers hilarious moments as Zack and Miri are eventually faced with the difficult task of creating a movie title that says it all.Yes, Zack and Miri Make a Porno is exactly that, Zack and Miri making a porno. And believe you me, there is plenty of potty mouth to go around. But as dirty as the movie is, you will be surprised and delighted to find that this is a movie with a lot of heart, and as with all Kevin Smith pieces, a great deal of brain (no pun intended).Zack and Miri have been BFF's since the first grade, which has rendered their relationship strictly platonic. They have never really amounted to much since graduating high school ten years ago, but know that deep down inside they are really much better than the others, or at least tell themselves that.At the high school reunion, Zack and Miri have to endure the inevitable: the mindless chitchat and feigned nostalgia. The only reason Zack goes is to laugh at people, while Miri goes to show her high school crush what a hottie she's become. To Zack the night is a success, thanks to a hilarious cameo by Justin Long, while Miri's night doesn't quite go as planned. What they come away with is the realization that they really need to do something with their lives, if only to save them from their economic crisis, a story that is not uncommon in America these days. You guessed it. They make a porno.As silly as it sounds, there is something truly heartfelt, albeit raunchy, about watching Zack and Miri and the rest of their crew make their porn movie. It's kind of like watching Mark Borchardt make his low budget horror flick in the hilarious documentary American Movie, only the porn Zack and Miri and company make is quite possibly the worst porn ever made (okay, okay that may be an exaggeration but you get my point).All around is a job well done by the cast and cameos. Seth Rogan plays the everyman to a "T" and Elizabeth Banks shines as the high school outcast turned hottie. Their chemistry as platonic friends is golden, and sparks truly fly when their true feelings finally come to light. You'll see familiar faces from both the View Askewniverse and the Apatow family, creating pure hilarity as both of these comic forces collide.Zack and Miri Make a Porno is less about making a porno than it is about everyday people finding their niche in life. Their niche in life just so happens to be making pornos. Zack and Miri Make a Porno can be synonymous to Joe Six-Pack Becomes a Professional Wrestler, or Joe the Plumber Makes Over $250,000 a Year. Venues who opted not to show this film, I feel are overreacting a bit. Although Kevin Smith's latest certainly lives up to the name, what we ultimately get is a feel-good movie. And a feel-good movie has never felt so good. In the end, Zack and Miri made a porno, and Kevin Smith made an awesome movie.
Fantastic Casting Makes This Porno Worth It
posted on 28 Jul 2009As I have stated in multiple other comments on this site, I am a huge Kevin Smith fan and when I heard he was going to have Seth Rogen (in my opinion, one of the funniest actors in recent film) in his latest film I was excited. Smith has the ability to add heart to even the most vulgar of stories and he outdoes himself here. Just as the title of the movie insinuates, lifetime friends Zack and Miri are near broke and a visit to their high school reunion inspires them to create an adult film to solve their financial crisis.Twenty minutes into this movie, I was completely desensitized to vulgar dialogue. Once the characters began listing off all the potential film titles for their porno, it was as if the taboo of dirty language just disappeared in a sea of innuendo. So, to answer peoples' question regarding "Is this movie safe for my younger _________?", I would have to emphatically say NO. For those of us who are of age, this movie is still pretty funny. It's definitely not Smith's funniest film, but it's not his worst either. I found the movie to be infinitely quotable and I noticed that I seemed to enjoy the movie a little bit more each time I watched it.The real highlight of this movie is the cast! It was a Kevin Smith film with a Judd Apatow cast, an awesome combination. Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks are the title characters and I found that the two of them had fantastic chemistry together. Rogen was terrific but it was Banks that really sold me on their relationship. She really brought the tenderness to Smith's film with her great performance. In addition to the headliners, the film also has Smith regulars Jason Mewes and Jeff Anderson (though Anderson's role is much smaller than his usual Randall Graves performance). Craig Robinson steals scenes as Delaney, Zack's co-worker and producer and, for a touch of realism, Smith went so far as to cast real-life porn stars Katie Morgan (HOT) and Traci Lords as supporting roles. One would normally believe that porn stars have no business in a genuine acting role but they manage to run with the cast and do a great job.I'll admit, I thought there were a few more loose ends that I wish Smith had tied up at the end of the film, but then the movie WAS more about the relationship between Zack and Miri with their porn as a tool to help them realize their feelings. Despite that the film isn't nearly as good as some of Smith's previous works and the language will probably turn some people off of the film, it's still a good movie with a great cast and plenty of emotion scattered amongst the sex scenes.
This film is terrible and a step down for those involved.
posted on 26 Jul 2009Seth Rogen stars as a poof named Zack who slings coffee and is basically a loser who roommates with his mentally challenged platonic life mate Miri.They are slobs and cannot pay their bills so they decide to make a porno. Knowing that porn is the crown jewel of the internet they proceed to make a porn and they assemble a cast of zany freaks to help them out.I love a good comedy and I did not find this film offensive. I was simply embarrassed for all involved in this production because I feel it was a step down for all of them.Kevin Smith is better than this and so is Seth Rogen. I suppose they thought they would slap this together for a pay off because this film lacks heart. Every other Seth or Kevin movie I found to be funny and impressive. This was just boring and not inspired.The only redeeming scene is the one between Justin Long and Brandon Routh. At a high school reunion Justin and his lover Brandon have a fight and it is the only funny and inspired scene.Jason Mews is a very talented man but his character was not inspired. I think he should have played Jay from Jay and Silent Bob and perhaps it might have saved this film.I expect much more from Kevin and Seth and I am let down by this film.This was plain and simple a bad film. Stick with Clerks 2 or Knocked Up for some great and inspired comedy. No one needs to see this.A complete waste.
I love this movie!!! lol!!
posted on 24 Jul 2009This film is by far THE best film i've seen this yr....and defo one of the funniest films i've seen in me life!! It had me and me bf (as well as the rest of the cinema theatre) in stitches virtually all of the way through!! Almost every-line that Craig Robinson has in the film is simply...hilarious!! The script and acting are both great! 'Jay'..from the duo J and silent bob, is lookin great in this movie n all...nice bit ov eye candy...and looks really fit now the hairs short and tidy lol! (Look out from a cameo from 'silent bob' n all) In one sense its a pretty dirty movie- with lots of foul language........as every other word seems to b f*in this or f*in tha, and what with all the making of the porno film....and the makin love (lol)! But in another sense its also a very sweet and touching rom-com. An absolutely brilliant film!!!!!! Go and watch it ppl.....its great!! How any one can not like this film is beyond me???
Enjoyable and heart warming
posted on 22 Jul 2009This film is about two friends who have to resort to the ultimate means to pay the bills. During the process they discover more about themselves than they planned to."Zack and Miri Make a Porno" is a pleasant surprise. I was expecting it to be full of gross out humour, but the sex and toilet humour stops just before it gets too much. It focuses quite a lot on the emotional side of two friends who have never explored their feelings, making it more credible for it not to be considered as porn. Elizabeth Banks is beautiful and natural. Her feelings flows seamlessly, and she engages viewers. As a result, the film is more a romantic comedy that warms the heart.
Better than the title suggests
posted on 22 Jul 2009Sweet and funny vulgar love story about two friends forever who only realize they love each other when they finally sleep together for a porno film they are making to pay the rent. The first couple of minutes had me groaning, wondering what I had gotten myself into but somehow it all come together and the repartee between the two leads won me over. Its an utterly charming film with four letter words and talk about adult toys. What can I say I've finally found a Seth Rogen film I like. I can only chalk up its less than stellar performance to the title. Yes you really do what to see this. 7.5 out of 10
How powerful was that love scene! No for real! Phenomenal Movie!
posted on 18 Jul 2009I don't want to spoil it, but not very many comments I've read have mentioned it. I'm a dude and have seen many a sappy chick flick love scenes with my wife so I'm pretty conditioned to them, but that scene straight broke me down, if I had been in the privacy of my own home, I would have wept like a baby. It wasn't the traditional emotional connection to the characters, build up type thing, it was just POW, and I was remembering what it felt like the first time I made love to my wife and I'm not talking about in front of a camera in a coffee shop. Smith is genius he uses the camera and music flawlessly. When Mews is banging chicks it looks like a modern professional porn, when Zack and Miri start out, its all awkward amateurish, totally drawn out, uncomfortable, then BAM! They start making love Hollywood movie style, the song couldn't be more perfect, very effective at showing the difference between making love and sex / f'ing! I'm probably reading way to much into this film, but I can't help but notice how so many people get caught up on things like language, raunchiness, the word "porn", or other "morality politics", and miss the point that someone is trying to make a statement about love. We get a ton of exposure to sex in this country but maybe not enough exposure to love, maybe sometimes we confuse them, and it takes a master film maker to remind us! Bravo!
There can be only one
posted on 14 Jul 2009Actually there isn't much to say about this movie, only that it's a great sex-comedy. There is many dirty jokes, much of them are pretty stupid too and that's what is good about it. It's not all about sex there was whole one minute which wasn't about sex. I'm talking about "there can be only one" scene, which was really funny, funnier than that was only the scene where Seth Rogen's character showed his school-photo. So if you like stupid but at the same time funny jokes, you should watch this film, because there is lots of stupid jokes. The movie is also very well directed and has some great tracks, like Blondie's "Dreaming"
Kevin Smith Evolves By Making Porn
posted on 12 Jul 2009Kevin Smith sure has come a long way since he taught us about rigor mortis and "snowballing" in his critically-acclaimed debut, Clerks. OK, maybe not a long way. Smith's humor still falls squarely in potty-mouth area, with four letter words tossed about like candy on Halloween, but with his latest venture he finally departs from his beloved Askewniverse. In the process he leaves behind the adored pairing of Jay and Silent Bob, but it's all for the sake of progression, and progress he does with Zack and Miri Make a Porno.As soon as you've read the title you already have a fairly basic idea of the plot of the movie. Zack (Seth Rogen, Knocked Up) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks, W.) are ten years removed from high school and still have done nothing with their lives. The best friends share an apartment and barely scrape together enough to get by, and eventually lose their utilities and are close to losing the whole thing if they don't get some more money fast. Inspiration from some old classmates (Justin Long and Brandon Routh) inspires Zack with the idea of making, you guessed it, a porno. He gathers his co-worker Delaney (Craig Robinson, The Office) to fund the masterpiece and one of his hockey teammates Deacon (Jeff Anderson, Clerks) to film and suddenly business is booming. Of course there are setbacks, and romantic tension between the two leads, we've seen this before.It's worth noting right away that Rogen and Banks are incredibly believable as best friends who have the lovebugs inside them, a concept that's been done to death so many times it's refreshing how well it's portrayed here. Rogen brings the same razor-wit he seems to have in all of his movies these days, and there's a genuine sweetness that surrounds Banks in all of her scenes. Robinson steals the show as a 20-year husband sick of his ball-and-chain wife, another cliché that somehow remains funny, and Jason Mewes provides a hilarious actor picked up for the film, who's only talent is something that can't be described while maintaining journalistic professionalism. Regardless, those four are the biggest reasons this film works, though the rest of the actors chip in well. Cameos by Long and Routh as a gay couple work very well and provide one of the better scenes in the film as the two bicker and Zack merely watches and quips from the sidelines.While this film is truly a romantic comedy, Smith definitely adds his own flavor to it, which clearly separates it from the rest of the rom-coms invading theaters. That flavor is, of course, the pornography. An actor and actress each give a full-frontal view to the audience, and there are of course a few sex scenes, which thankfully are not horribly explicit. The movie certainly has a few awkward moments in the first few drawn out sexual escapades but the tension is lightened every so often by a great one-liner from one of the cast members, or a walk-in by Tyler Labine of Reaper fame.The movie plays out more like a typical Judd Apatow (director of 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up) film, playing on more realistic situations with witty dialogue and awkward pauses galore, which is a great thing for Smith to explore. Because of this, the movie isn't as laugh-out-loud funny as some of Smith's previous works, but funny in the sense of what's going on. Still, there are signs that Kevin is still the man behind the camera in scenes such as the one where Rogen and Banks bounce porno names off of each other, very reminiscent of some of the conversations had in Clerks or Chasing Amy.Comedy and romance achieve a nice balance throughout the movie, and the plot as clichéd as it seems still manages a level of respectibility and drama. You know how it's going to end, but how it gets there is vastly intriguing and the closeness of the characters really shows up in the final twenty-or-so minutes of the movie. When it gets down to it, Zack and Miri lacks a lot of the typical big time laughs of a Kevin Smith comedy, but brings with a fair share of emotion and witty writing to more than make up for it. Each member of the cast brings their A-game to this one and it feels very much like an ensemble cast, not a Rogen vehicle.Kevin Smith has with this film, demonstrated that he is evolving as a director and is poised to launch himself into the upper echelon of Hollywood comedymen with Apatow. Zack and Miri is not without it's slow points, blatantly uncomfortable moments, or utter cheesiness, but there's plenty of greatness everywhere else to make that a wash, and adds this one to the already big list of great comedies of 2008.9 out of 10
Awful, a film for today morons
posted on 10 Jul 2009Sometimes it's good for you to see a bad movie just to appreciate a really good one. Einstein once said: "Stupidity is a universal", but I think today is increasing in a stepper way. This stupid movie is about two friends (a boy and a girl) that live together in a "platonic friendship" (if it really exists between a girl and a boy but this is another discussion). Because of low income status they decide to take the step of becoming involved "in the thriving industry of porn". The jokes in this movie are so racist and sexist. But not be fouled by the movie title, this movie it is a so called "romance comedy". "Zack and Miri make a porn" it ain't nothing that promises to be: no romance, no comedy, no acting but it has cheep jokes, sex with animal allusion, anal sex, sodomy and other creepy porn imported scene. I think that in the heads of producers and directors it's Sodoma and Gomora. Don't pay for it, it doesn't deserve any of your time and money.
Kevin Smith Makes a Kevin Smith Movie
posted on 29 Aug 2009Far be it from me to tell Kevin Smith how to make a Kevin Smith movie. Of course, only he can be the master of that. And that's exactly what Zack and Miri Makes a Porno is... a Kevin Smith movie in every sense of the word.But if Zack and Miri fails in any regard, its that Kevin Smith might be trying too hard to follow his own criteria for what makes a movie significantly his.In this film you will see plenty of raunchy humor and nary a sentence without a swear word. You'll laugh your head off and possibly pee your pants while simultaneously being strangely aroused.However, while you do all this, realize that little of it makes much sense. For instance, why is Seth Rogan's character broke and in risk of becoming homeless, while Craig Robinsons character does the exact same thing at the exact same coffee shop but has enough money to finance this porno movie? Why would two friends who have been in a platonic relationship for the greater part of two decades all of a sudden decide to interact in a pornographic movie together - especially when they hire additional actors? The basic premise of the movie and the first act definitely draw you in and make you interested, but ultimately many promises were made and never kept. By the end of the movie you feel it was all too contrived, too unrealistic, and that little of it made sense on a real-world scale.Kevin Smith tries to balance the ridiculousness of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back with the romance of Chasing Amy, but ultimately falls into a universe that does not exist. The decisions these people make and the characters they find are too far out there to believe on a basis of reality. That would be okay in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back or Mallrats, but the setup for this movie had lead you to believe that this was still going to exist in the real world. It did not.Elizabeth Banks will stand out for many as the best actor or actress in the movie and its not even close, though Craig Robinson steals the show from a comedic standpoint.Jason Mewes also deserves some praise for stepping somewhat out of his "Jay" character to deliver a good performance and for the most part make you forget that he is "Jay" The performance of Seth Rogan, whom Im a big fan of, felt forced at times. Trying too hard to deliver the line perfectly, and then ultimately feeling like it was a line read off of a script rather than a line that was spoken.I wish we could have seen more from the duo of Justin Long and Brandon Routh, as well as the coffee shop manager who most people will remember from The 40-Year-Old Virgin. And I wish that the scene near the beginning of the movie at the reunion had actually meant something on the grand scale of things, but afterwords felt completely meaningless and unnecessary except to provide some extra laughs.Which is what most of the movie is, laughs and not much else. I give the movie 8 out of 10, because it is worth seeing in theaters and does provide many laughs. It could ultimately stand out as one of Kevin Smiths 3 or 4 funniest movies. Overall, however, this doesn't stand up to recent Rogan movies like Virgin and Knocked Up or for Kevin Smith it's not nearly as meaningful or good as Dogma or Clerks.It is however a funny movie that succeeded in making us laugh, but failed in delivering any heart and badly in need of a re-write if it ever wanted to go above and beyond simply being funny.