Zack and Miri Make a Porno

The fuzzy and cute Seth Rogen and the lovely Elizabeth Banks play the titular (given the movie's subject, no pun intended) best mates in this latest Kevin Smith project, about a supposedly platonic friendship which grows into something more when the pair hit dire straits and are forced to make a porno to make ends meet. As you do. Enter Traci Lords and Jason Mewes (of Jay and Silent Bob), which must surely be the source of the latter's dirtiest dreams. From this brief precis you're correct to assume that this movie is a bit silly, a bit childish, and well, a bit rude. I'm not going to pretend it's a masterpiece, but I'll certainly argue that it's entertaining enough fare. Although it has made me snigger when using phrases like 'Enter Traci Lords'. Which is surely rather worrying. Where was I? Oh yes - Zack and Miri is good fun if you don't take it too seriously and is at least an original way of telling the age old story of two friends who start to fall in love (or realise they always have been in love).

I'm on record as having something of a liking for Seth Rogen and indeed a juvenile sense of humour, as well as a predilection for Kevin Smith films, and I think that to enjoy this movie you'd have to share these views. They certainly allowed me to forgive some of the movie's weaknesses. Kevin Smith's stoner humour is known for wandering into shall we say, scatological territory, and this movie is no different. The comedy doesn't always come off and there are moments which could surely only ever appeal to a rather dim teenage boy's sense of humour (which even my comedic proclivities were embarrassed by). The predictable script wasn't as crackling as his previous efforts (although it was better than Jersey Girl for what it's worth) so I'd say that the success of Zack and Miri is definitely down to ability of its two leads to get the audience on side. Kevin Smith is still kind of stuck in the 90s but Rogen's presence gave the whole thing a more youthful and up to date feel. His likeable persona also - my bias aside - enabled the audience to shrug off any reservations about bad taste as you could warm to him more than the likes of previous Smith stalwarts, who never really seemed to actually like the women they slept with that much. It also made the ordinary bloke getting the hot girl equation way easier to believe. Helpfully there was a believable chemistry between him and Banks: I bought that they were friends and was invested in their getting together. 

The supporting cast were also strong enough to carry off the dodgier humour. Jason Mewes, Jeff Anderson (Clerks) and Craig Robinson (The Office) were the source of most laughs. I also loved that Smith managed to lure the really really ridiculously good looking and hetero Brandon Routh (of many a teenage girl's fantasies) to play a gay guy and spoof his Superman persona; it showed that Routh has a ready sense of humour and the dialogue between him and Justin Long, who played his out and proud lover, was great stuff. The re-location of the porno shoot to the coffee shop in which Zack works also drew a smile - Smith fans will know that Clerks was actually filmed at night in the 7/11 where he worked at the time, and this fact surely wasn't lost on him when he wrote this. He's come a long way, even if the comedy is still pretty much the same ...

On the whole and despite it's flaws, I liked this latest View Askew production, which trod a sometimes not so fine line between smut and schmaltz. I'm never really sure whether Kevin Smith works at the cinema and suspect when this is out on DVD I'll revisit this and enjoy more. There's something so small scale about his stories and their locales (even Dogma) which doesn't readily translate to the big screen and almost colours your judgment, so if my comments seem ambivalent bear this in mind. I'll sign off by saying that whilst Zack and Miri isn't as charming as Rogen's other 'rom com' Knocked Up, it's still quite sweet, albeit the kind of sweet which sees the central characters wielding dildos and discussing anal sex with alarming regularity.

Oh. One more thing. Seth, keep the stubble! For anyone else who loves him as much as I do (OK, it's totally just for my benefit), here's a piccie for your delectation: