Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Movie title: Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)
Grade: A- (4 stars) Recommended!
Rated: R
Director: Kevin Smith
Producers: (Exec.) Carla Gardini, Laura Greenlee, Scott Mosier, (Exec.) Bob Weinstein, (Exec.) Harvey Weinstein
Starring: Elizabeth Banks “Miriam Linky,” Seth Rogen “Zack Brown,” Jason Mewes “Lester,” Craig Robinson “Delaney,” Gerry Bednob “Mr. Surya” Stacey “Katie Morgan,” Lester “Jason Mewes,” cameraman “Jeff Anderson”
Genre: Comedy/Romance
Summation: 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 begins to sense that they may have more feelings for each other than they previously thought.
Spoilers ahead: No

---

What’s all this buzz about Zack and Miri Make a Porno? The buzz is that it’s good, better than good! And the buzz is right! Its only setback is that it’s a foulmouthed film, and that eliminates scores of potential viewers and brings on harsher criticism than it otherwise would get.

Heck, I’ll come right out and fawn over it! This is probably the funniest movie I have ever seen! I laughed till I was sore. The only time I laughed harder was in 1993 in a drug-induced stupor.

No, I’m not exaggerating, and no, I’m not being paid to say so! The movie was flip-your-lid funny with one rapid-fire gag after another—and that’s a rare quality for comedies, most of them plagued with long, unfunny interludes between the juicy stuff.

The sleazy slang and the onslaught of outlandishly dirty jokes come in the form of satire, porno satire. Your local adult store has plenty of the kind of titles you’ll hear, “Crocodile Blondee,” “Terradice Island,” “Battlestar Assica,” “The DaVinci Load,” etc. titles that crack you up no-end. Believe me when I tell you the above references can’t hold a candle to the ones you’ll hear in Zack and Miri Make a Porno! We’re talking priceless sexual satire here!

Of course, you’ve got to be down with the dirtiest of movies with sex scenes and nudity, though there’s not quite as much as you’d think. So no, as some of you are wondering, it doesn’t deserve an X rating.

What it does deserve is credit for having lovable character development and relationship predicaments that make things a blast all the way through. The plot twists have the romance movie equivalent of a rollercoaster ride. You’ll be shocked and charmed as you watch. The characters are complex and delightfully deep.

And Zack and Miri Make a Porno offers some wisdom – wisdom on intimacy and how it changes a relationship – and on love. It stays focused on the humor, but doesn’t lag behind on a developing romance either. Emotions are mixed beautifully. When realism is sidestepped, it is done in the name of good comedy, and never for any other reason.

In addition to the on-screen talent of Elizabeth Banks and Seth Rogen was that of Craig Robinson as “Delaney,” an unhappily married man who agrees to fund the porno out of a repressed desire to see other naked chicks. Jason Mewes as “Lester,” the pop-a-woody-on-the-spot exhibitionist, brings his own “package” of charm and fun to the film.

This film would have faired even better in the reviews had less anti-adult sentiments been floating around. Bottom line is, there’s a whole lot more here to love than smut and sleaze. There’s a one-of-a-kind story with tons to love. Four Stars for Zack and Miri Make a Porno. It’s one of the best films of the year.

(JH)