Kevin Smith is a sweet guy.  He really is.  He's not particularly proud of his sensitive side, however, and has to cake his films with as much raunchy dialogue and scatological humor as all possible.  This is what makes his films funny, you see, and its the reason he's had cult and occasional mainstream success since he made Clerks in the early 1990's.  His newest film, Zack and Miri Make a Porno is a departure from previous works, but only because the familiar View Askewniverse characters are nowhere to be found.  It's still a scruffy little comedy about underdogs.  Zack and Miri are about the most poverty-stricken main characters I've seen in a comedy for some time (perhaps since Roy Munson in Kingpin), and it's this desperation that allows the two to do what the title not-so-subtly suggests: make a porno. 

Seth Rogen plays Zack.  Elizabeth Banks plays Miri.  The two have worked together before in The 40-Year-Old Virgin and they have a great chemistry.  Not many actresses would be able to stand toe-to-toe with Rogen in a comedy this dirty, but Banks is more than up to the task, spouting expletives that would make your parents blush.  She's so damn adorable, though, which I suspect makes her Kevin Smith's dream woman.  Rogen, of course, is right at home with this type of humor.  Rogen's visibility has been off-the-charts since Knocked Up hit theaters, but the backlash, if there is any, is unfounded.  He continues to impress, proving that he can indeed carry a film on his husky shoulders, rounding into form as this generation's Bill Murray. 

As with any Kevin Smith film, there are a lot of jokes that fall flat.  There is gross-out comedy that goes too far, shock for the sake of shock.  But, that's all more than forgivable given the sheer quantity of laughs that Zack and Miri Make a Porno produces.  Zack and Miri are best friends who have lived together for years.  They've come to a point where they can't even pay their utility bills, and they have to make money fast.  After running into Miri's former crush (played magnificently by Superman himself, Brandon Routh) and his boyfriend (Justin Long) at their ten-year high school reunion, Zack has an idea.  You see, Routh and Long are gay porn actors.  They make a lot of money.  So, Zack decides that they should make a porn starring themselves.  This is somehow reasonable in the universe of the film and, somehow, Miri agrees.

From there, Zack and Miri turns into a movie about making a movie.  The parallels between this segment of the movie and Kevin Smith's making of Clerks have been made often recently, and they're apt.  Zack and Miri employ a eccentric cast and crew, featuring Traci Lords, Jason Mewes, Katie Morgan and Craig Robinson, and they end up making just about the worst porno in the history of mankind.

But, that's not important.  Zack and Miri, as they approach their big scene together, realize that maybe they've had pent-up feelings for each other for years.  It's a love story, and when you strip away the whole porn aspect, the film is really a standard romantic comedy.  A dirty, expletive-filled, sex-driven comedy that's hilarious, but a romantic comedy nonetheless.  Zack and Miri Make a Porno isn't for the weak-willed, and if you're easily offended, you best stay away.  But, if you've been a fan of Kevin Smith in the past, Zack and Miri is right up your alley.  It's his best-looking film to date, and the new cast has revitalized Smith's voice.  If anything else, it'll be the best amateur-porn themed fill you'll see this year.


-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
(Image Courtesy of The Weinstein Company)