← Back to Reviews
in
Kevin Smith's jokes don't always have a setup. Some don't even have a punchline; the humor comes from the flow of the dialogue and its subject matter. It's all in the execution, rather than the idea.
With Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Smith ventures into the realm of the concept film -- the setup is in the title, and you probably had a pretty good idea as to whether or not it’s something you'd want to see the moment you heard it.
The events of the film are spurred by an old standby: the characters need money. Platonic roommates Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) are behind on their rent and utilities and have had their heat, water, and electricity shut off. Miri humorously observes that this is exactly the sort of situation that drives people to go into pornographic films. Zack thinks this is brilliant, talks her into giving it a try, and both of them reassure the other that they won't let a little thing like having sex on screen interfere with their friendship. Why would it?
They scrape together some particularly adventurous venture capital and hold auditions to flesh out the rest of the cast. Naturally, things don't always go smoothly during the filming; logistical and emotional hurdles abound, and the budding pornographers have to get fairly creative (and sometimes juvenile) to keep production going. Thankfully for them, making an adult film doesn't actually require them to behave like adults.
Smith’s penchant for outrageous dialogue is well-known, and Zack and Miri is another example of it. It never occurs to any of the characters to censor anything they say, and there's usually a hysterical disconnect between the topic of conversation and the importance they attach to it. Never before have people had such deep beliefs about such shallow things, but they make up in wit what they usually lack in perspective.
Of course, you can expect plenty of fairly explicit sex scenes (though they're all played for laughs), and at least one jaw-dropping, gross-out blind side, which is as well-timed as it is tasteless. Of course, if you knowingly see a film with a title like this, you don't have much ground for complaint. Expect a constant struggle between your dignity and your sense of humor, and expect the latter to win out.
Fans of both the "View Askewniverse" and the Apatow comedy cartel will notice plenty of familiar supporting faces, including Jeff Anderson (Clerks) and Craig Robinson (Knocked Up). In a production like this, all the characters need to buy wholesale into the off-balance world Smith's placed them in; just one normal person could ruin it for the rest of them. Instead, they all exhibit the same structured insanity, and they help paint the film's corners just as brightly as its center.
Zack and Miri Make a Porno has no compunction about shocking the audience, though it doesn't go for the gross-out any more than it has to. Its characters behave realistically, and it never gives up on the idea that their thoughts and feelings matter, and should drive the story. Though not always the most noticeable organ in the film, it does have a heart.
With Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Smith ventures into the realm of the concept film -- the setup is in the title, and you probably had a pretty good idea as to whether or not it’s something you'd want to see the moment you heard it.
The events of the film are spurred by an old standby: the characters need money. Platonic roommates Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) are behind on their rent and utilities and have had their heat, water, and electricity shut off. Miri humorously observes that this is exactly the sort of situation that drives people to go into pornographic films. Zack thinks this is brilliant, talks her into giving it a try, and both of them reassure the other that they won't let a little thing like having sex on screen interfere with their friendship. Why would it?
They scrape together some particularly adventurous venture capital and hold auditions to flesh out the rest of the cast. Naturally, things don't always go smoothly during the filming; logistical and emotional hurdles abound, and the budding pornographers have to get fairly creative (and sometimes juvenile) to keep production going. Thankfully for them, making an adult film doesn't actually require them to behave like adults.
Smith’s penchant for outrageous dialogue is well-known, and Zack and Miri is another example of it. It never occurs to any of the characters to censor anything they say, and there's usually a hysterical disconnect between the topic of conversation and the importance they attach to it. Never before have people had such deep beliefs about such shallow things, but they make up in wit what they usually lack in perspective.
Of course, you can expect plenty of fairly explicit sex scenes (though they're all played for laughs), and at least one jaw-dropping, gross-out blind side, which is as well-timed as it is tasteless. Of course, if you knowingly see a film with a title like this, you don't have much ground for complaint. Expect a constant struggle between your dignity and your sense of humor, and expect the latter to win out.
Fans of both the "View Askewniverse" and the Apatow comedy cartel will notice plenty of familiar supporting faces, including Jeff Anderson (Clerks) and Craig Robinson (Knocked Up). In a production like this, all the characters need to buy wholesale into the off-balance world Smith's placed them in; just one normal person could ruin it for the rest of them. Instead, they all exhibit the same structured insanity, and they help paint the film's corners just as brightly as its center.
Zack and Miri Make a Porno has no compunction about shocking the audience, though it doesn't go for the gross-out any more than it has to. Its characters behave realistically, and it never gives up on the idea that their thoughts and feelings matter, and should drive the story. Though not always the most noticeable organ in the film, it does have a heart.