Zack and Miri Make a Porno (Kevin Smith, 2008): USA

Reviewed by Kevin Tran. Viewed at the Metro Four Theater, Santa Barbara, CA.

Don’t see Zack and Miri Make a Porno. You will be disappointed. You’ll laugh and have the pleasure of seeing Seth Rogen play his usual hilarious self, but then again, you can also just watch Knocked Up again on DVD. Kevin Smith moves from making a film about slacker clerks and mallrats to adults, who are also slackers, but with real-life problems like paying rent. The problem is that they are not as fun, interesting, or funny.

Zack and Miri are childhood best friends who share a crumbling, dirty apartment together. Going through a financial hardship, the duo come up with a scheme to make some fast money, to which the title of the film alludes. As the camera rolls, however, and the script calls for the two to have sex together, Zack and Miri both realize they have stronger feelings for one another than they originally thought.

Kevin Smith directs a very funny cast, which is the film’s strongest suit. The film is worth a few laughs, but being a fan of most of Smith’s films (Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, and Dogma), I expected something hilarious and raunchy, and therefore was sorely disappointed. (Except, that is, for one surprising moment that involved feces, which left the entire audience in an uproar.)

Like always, Smith confuses tone and changes pace, which results in a sex comedy that loses its steam because of a boring, stale love development between its two main protagonists. Smith’s plot had the potential to be the next 40-Year Old Virgin, but his inability to write characters that we care about and create a film about more than dick and fart jokes makes Zack and Miri just like any other forgotten romantic comedy.

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Published:
11.01.08 / 5pm
Category:
Films