Starring: Elizabeth Banks, Seth Rogen, Jason Mewes, Craig Robinson, Traci Lords, Katie Morgan, Justin Long, Brandon Routh, Ricky Mabe

Directed by: Kevin Smith

The Weinstein Company

The Official Site of Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Discuss Zack and Miri Make a Porno on the boards!

Kevin Smith has made my life better. You know, in general. I’m better off having seen his films, having laughed at his observations about Star Wars and sex and sex within the Star Wars universe. I’m better off having laughed with my friends every time one of us offered the group a chocolate covered pretzel or made fun of inkers.

He’s brought a lot of joy to my life and for that I’m not only better off but eternally grateful as well. He doesn’t get a free pass though. When he makes a crappy movie I won’t see it through a veil of love for how often he’s made me laugh in the past. His latest, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, a story about two life long friends that turn to homemade pornography to solve their money problems, is easier to not compare to the past. Other than Jersey Girl (which, despite what you guys think, is actually a pretty solid story up until the Sweeny Todd crap) Zack and Miri is Smith’s biggest departure from the safe and comfortable world he created and lived in for a decade. We’ve got some familiar faces but there’s no cartoon drug dealers, funny book makers, or clerks that weren’t even supposed to be here today. This is truly the fresh start that Jersey Girl (too big of a departure – we weren’t ready for it!) was supposed to be.

It’s a shame that it doesn’t really work. Zack and Miri manages to be amusing throughout but leaves the big laughs feeling forced. You could say the same for the clunky development of the stars’ budding relationship, which granted is sparked by some truly amazing stand-alone scenes, but in the end suffers from the pieces in-between.

Zack and Miri comes off as a generic love story with a larger-than-life (and underused) backdrop, something that will no doubt draw some Apatow comparisons even though Smith has been making Apatow movies since before it was cool. Or you know – since before it was marketable and profitable.

The first 20 minutes feels totally Apatow though. Not until the real Smith-speak (non improvised, perfectly crafted sex talk with sprinklings of pop culture references) fires up does the movie find its own identity. This all leads up to arguably the best scene in the film, a high school reunion where a run-in with a gay porn star (Justin Long) inspires Zack and Miri’s pornographic future.

After deciding that poorly filmed and distributed sex is the answer, Zack and Miri round up a group of willing participants to shoot, fund and star in the film alongside them. They’re like a loveable band of misfits that don’t quite fit into the real world but come to love and understand each other like a true family. Just like that movie Freaks! I wouldn’t have been surprised at all if they’d suddenly beat down a random person on the street with dildos and kisses.

What was seemingly Smith’s moment to shine, a big beautiful landscape of sex jokes waiting to come to life goes largely unused. Dildo lightsabers and clever porn names should be just the beginning! I was laughing pretty regularly though so I’m not complaining too much.

Instead I was more impressed at the way the story was told. This section at least. A couple of lengthy conversations about what to call the film and how it should be done are spread out over at least a half a dozen short scenes. It kept things moving, covered a lot of ground and set a nice bouncy pace for what otherwise could have been endless and awkward scenes of exposition. Seeing things progress showed us not only a progress in plot but in time as well. It showed a great sense of maturity and class in Smith’s directing. It was very impressive.

Eventually we get to the point in the story where “sex ruins everything�. We told ourselves it wouldn’t get weird, but it totally did. This is something I’m cool with. Sex screws people up in all kinds of ways. It’s the reactions of the characters where the biggest cracks first start to form. That was way weirder than what any of these characters do to each other with no pants on.

Without getting too much into spoilers, the most difficult reaction for me was - Why was Zack surprised that Miri showed up for her sex scene with Lester? (Played by Jason Mewees who is hysterical even without a Silent Bob crutch holding him up) She was scheduled to be there, why wouldn’t she show up?

I can tell you exactly why Zack is surprised, but that’s not the point. His shock is unwarranted. Had he been disappointed or just flat out angry I think it would have bridged together the moments that are so important and so well done. And that’s the thing - There are some amazing scenes here. Some of the best of any movie Smith has ever done, but great scenes slapped together with unnecessary and imagined fluff in between doesn’t make a good movie.

If anything does hold it together it’s Elizabeth Banks. As Miri, she’s nearly invisible in the first half of the film as the boys have their fun acting silly, but when it counts, when it comes time to really act, she brings it. She’s incredible. She does more with her reactions than half the cast of any Kevin Smith film has done with an unlimited supply of F-words and genital jokes. She legitimizes the tone, the potentially over-the-top theme and the film as a whole.

I have nothing but respect for Kevin Smith. It’s obvious he’s grown as a filmmaker and I’m thrilled to see him take on new challenges from different perspectives. As much as I loved the ViewAskewnivers, I’m glad he’s left that world behind him. But I don’t know that he’s found a new home in the real world.

Rating: 6 out of 10 - This is a lower rating that I would’ve liked to give Zack and Miri but the film just doesn’t quite deliver. I know a bunch of you guys out there disagree with me and that’s cool. I’m all about that. It just didn’t work for me.

I own Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back so there’s no reason I wouldn’t eventually get this. Seriously – Smith is known for packing his DVD with grade A material. I know I’ll enjoy the movie the more I watch it and even if I’m reluctant to admit that I like it, there’s bound to be some nugget within the hours of extras to convince me.

Fanboys - Well, it’s taken a while for the Weinstein Company to get things sorted out but it looks like Fanboys, the story of a group of friends traveling across the country to break into Skywalker Ranch so they can watch an early preview of Star Wars Episode I, is finally headed for the big screen. The film has gone through its ups and downs with Weinstein firing the director and cutting out major plot points (including a controversial “cancer storyline�), something that lead to a huge backlash online and the eventual rehiring of the director and preservation of story. It’s always great when a creator’s vision can be seen as intended, but the early rumors are that the movie isn’t very good and this trailer supports that.

I like how all the stars are referenced by their pop culture counterparts instead of who they actually are, it kind of reminded me of the comic I did for Juno, but there isn’t much else in the trailer to really get excited about. Where’s the movies true heart? Where’s Kristin Bell and the gold bikini!? Perhaps they’re saving their A-material for a trailer closer to the actual release.

I did a Fanboys strip last spring, and it looks like the boycott is off since the movie will see the light of day. We should be careful what we wish for though.

One of the best things about Smith is that you can tell he really loves making movies. Every time a new film goes into production there are tons of blog updates, podcasts, and even behind the scenes making-of videos from Smith himself to make sure that his true blue fans are the first folks with the info. It really gives us all a reason to get excited and feel connected to the project at the same time. It also ensures a pretty balls out awesome DVD release as well, so as a fan of movies, I’m glad Smith loves them as much or more.

Of the stuff that hit the web in the weeks leading up to the release of Zack and Miri, my favorite content had to be the Webisodes produced and directed by Chop Shop Entertainment. At the time of this post there have been 17 of these behind-the-scenes cast interviews, PSAs (Lovingly called “The More You Porno�) and clips, but they’ve been updating so frequently that there may be a few more by the time you stumble upon this. It’s a fun collection of stuff that isn’t work safe or appropriate for people under the age of 18. Be prepared to enter in your birthday over and over and over and over… It’s worth the math though.

I still owe you guys a review for W., but to be honest I’m having trouble focusing my thoughts on it. It’s a weird movie to put into words and I didn’t want to let that slow down the progress of future updates. I’ll figure it out though.

Today’s comic for Zack and Miri was actually on line early this morning. I put it up as a sneak peek over on the message boards. Just an incentive to do some lurking in your down time. ☺

Zack and Miri has a pretty solid soundtrack. Most of Smith’s films do actually. I’m still haunted by an Archers of Loaf song from Mallrats that seemed to make it onto every mix tape I made in the 1990s. The stand out on Zack and Miri is a song called “Hold me Up� by the band Live. I was a huge fan of Live back in the Throwing Copper days when they were just furiously attacking music. “Hold Me Up� is a recording from that era and you can feel it. The song is used during the film’s big love scene and its quite lows and frantic highs compliment it perfectly. I’d never heard the song before the movie but I’ve listened to it at least 50 times in the past 5 days.

Thanks so much for reading! Back with more soon. In the meanwhile, why not read some of these awesome comics: Mitch/Steve/Emily/Danielle/Jennie