Zack and Miri Make a Porno

I Need Help

If I may sound like a prude, it's been a while since I laughed so hard and so loud at and with a comedy, given that most have been relatively lacklustre flicks of late. And it took a Kevin Smith one to do just that, with its unadulterated, no holds barred treatment of material where anything and everything goes, where there's no such thing as taboos to be avoided, and somehow, the more vulgar the merrier, as this is definitely one unapologetic movie. You have been warned.

Yes, some may laud this beast as a travesty, but let's face it, sex sells. While it may be a tad shameless to make a downright porn film, Kevin Smith has injected some of the usual quirks found in his filmography, as well as paying homage to his fan boy roots. You can tell this by the numerous moments where pop culture comes into reference, as well as quite a significant time spent on bastardization of Star Wars (entitled Star Whores) that the characters dwell upon, to great comic effect. If you are a fan of George Lucas' galactic series, you may take offense, but might still credit Smith for his wild imagination. If you're not a fan, you'll whoop for joy as you'll probably agree with how it got ripped to shreds. Either way, one wonders of course if this is indeed Smith's secret fantasy (with Princess Lay-Her *ahem*), but I digress.

While it took a while for Zack (Set Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) to conceive the titular plan to save their sorry state of cash flow problems, this movie is not about making a porn film for the sake of. It may have touched upon some moments of truth that one might venture into this somewhat considered lucrative business, but ultimately at its core, it's still a straightforward romance that reared its cliched head (pardon the pun) in building up to the finale, and one that talks about friendship in general. It follows a typical zero to hero storyline for all the characters involved, and through making this film, they discover new found friendships that can withstand some hard knocks (well, considering you have to bear your privates for everyone else to see) together with finding some great camaraderie amongst them misfits, and taking centerstage is the underlying, unsaid romance between two house mates who deny their affections for each other for the longest time.

Seth Rogens may be famous for playing roles such as these, with his lucky stint opposite Katherine Heigel in Knocked Up, as well as various Judd Apatow films, so some might consider that he could play Zack with his eyes closed. Truth is, he does, and I guess it will take some time before he could get out of this stereotype. Hopefully, his Green Hornet project would take off properly, and for detractors, I guess you'll need to watch this film to see him sans his beard to be convinced that he just might pull it off. Elizabeth Banks had a lot more to do here of course in fleshing our Miri, since she is primarily the yes-no-flip-flop character who refuses to listen to her heart, and her dalliance with such indecisiveness, puts a strain in the friendship with Zack.

There are plenty of scenes here that earned merit, but I particularly liked the out of place one in the first third of the story, where a school reunion is to get us chummy and comfortable with both Zack and Miri's characters, but contains enough laughs here to leave you in stitches. Look out for Justin Long playing Brandon, and Brandon Routh (the latest Superman) being Long, in what would probably be amongst the best jokes in the film, with Routh being the punching bag for Long's really flamboyant character with a deep voice.

Like I said, it's funny and it's no holds barred, so go in with an open mind and an attitude to just laugh at everyone's funny antics (right down to poop jokes if you will), and you just may leave with a nice smile at the end of it. Oh yeah, remember to stay tuned when the end credits roll for a look into the aftermath of Zack and Miri's film production company!