Movie Review: Zack and Miri

What would you do if you suddenly found yourself completely broke and living in an apartment without water, heat or electricity?  I think that most people would attempt to sell off wordly posessions or perhaps move back in with family until circumstances get better, but not Zack and Miri, the hero and heroine in Kevin Smith’s newest flick, Zack and Miri Make a Porno. 

Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) are lifelong platonic friends in their late 20s who live together in an apartment in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Even though they share financial responsibilities, they find themselves in a tremendous amount of debt and in danger of being evicted.  They come up with the idea of making a pornographic film in order to make ends meet. 

Rogen and Banks have good on-screen chemistry and their relationship was totally believeable.  I’ve become a fast fan of Rogen and was really excited when I heard he was going to work on a Smith film.  Other cast members include Craig Robinson (Darrell from The Office) and Kevin Smith regulars, Jason Mewes and Jeff Anderson.  The ensemble worked well together, although I must admit that Robinson stole the show for me.

I have been a fan of Kevin Smith for several years now and I was exstatic to hear he was doing another film.  He is best known for what is known as the “Jersey Films”, (Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and Clerks 2) where all the movies exist in the same universe.  The characters in this particular set of movies have overlapping lifes and all of them are set in or around Red Bank, New Jersey.  Although it is set in New Jersey, Jersey Girl is not considered one of the core Jersey Films because it does not exist in the same film universe.  I could easily go on and on about Smith’s films because they have shaped so many newer filmmakers and actors careers.  Smith paved the way for more independant films to become mainstream. 

Zack and Miri Make a Porno has the feel of a classic Kevin Smith movie, but I felt like something was missing.  I finally put my finger on it after a bit of reflection.  Smith’s movies are all about character development through creative dialogue.  That’s what makes them so relatable.  Clerks is almost completely driven through the lines of characters because the rest of the movie is so minimalistic.  With Zack and Miri, the film felt like it was all about the action and not the relationships.  In that respect, I think that the film could have been better.  It would have been nice to understand Zack and Miri past the fact that they are friends who live together. 

For those of you planning on seeing Zack and Miri, don’t take the kids.  Although it goes without saying, there is some graphic sex and vulagar language.  With ‘porno’ in the title, what else would you expect?  Smith narrowly missed an NC-17 rating for this one.  He was able to appeal the MPAA decision downgrading the film to an R rating without having to cut a single scene.

With the recent success of Judd Apatow movies (Knocked Up, 40-Year Old Virgin), I wonder if Smith was attempting to one-up Apatow in the genre and I wonder what Apatow’s response will be.  I think it would be interesting to see the pair of writer-directors work on a project together.