Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Brad Sturdivant
September 18th, 2009
When CLERKS first came on the scene in 1994, I instantly became a Kevin Smith fan. Still today, I think of CLERKS as being one of the best independent films I’ve ever seen. But like most directors that break onto the scene with an original and innovative indie film, Kevin Smith has struggled to regain the success of his first film.
With Zack and Miri, he’s not trying to make an independent film, he’s trying to make a mainstream comedy. Although he hasn’t matured as a filmmaker nearly as much as he should have by now, and his dialogue isn’t quite as great as he thinks it is, Zack and Miri still manages to be quite a good film. If he hasn’t already, Mr. Smith should send Seth Rogen a thank you letter for his contributions and making this feel as little as possible like a Kevin Smith film.
The premise is quite simple; two best friends struggle for money and decide to make their own amateur porno. We all know where this is going and the opportunity for comedy is around every corner. The question is whether or not Smith and company take advantage of their opportunities. I think it has plenty of slight-chuckle moments and one laugh-out-loud moment, which for me is pretty good for a comedy that borders on being a drama at times. As far as the raunchiness goes, I would say it was pretty tame, considering what they could have done. There are several scenes with a topless girl and one scene that borders on too much, but overall the film was kept in check.
What makes this film different from some of Smith’s other works is that we actually care about the plight of these characters. Seth Rogen (Zack) and Elizabeth Banks (Miri) are perfect fits for their respective roles and add a depth that we don’t often see in comedies. Perhaps Apatow is now rubbing off on all comedic writers.
The most frustrating thing about this film is actually in its title. I respect Smith for taking a hard stance with the name, but he would have been better served dropping the “make a porno”. People read “porno” and they freak out. Smith spent more time defending the title of the film than he did promoting it and I think the box-office take suffered for it. I myself have heard people complain that they shouldn’t be showing a porno in a theater. Yeah, it’s an ignorant comment and it’s sad that people are so narrow-minded, but Smith has been around long enough to know how to play the game.
Even though I enjoyed the film and loved the characters that were presented, I can’t whole-heartedly recommend this film to everyone. Some people will be turned off by the nudity and the subject matter and hopefully by now you’ve learned not to watch Kevin Smith films. But the less sensitive crowds should enjoy the story and get plenty of laughs.
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