Lifelong friends and roommates Zack and Miri are facing hard times and a mountain of debt. When the electricity and plumbing get cut off they seize upon the idea of making a homegrown porno movie for some quick cash, enlisting the help of their friends. The two vow that having sex will not ruin their friendship. But as filming begins, what started out as a business proposition between friends turns into something much more...

Zack and Miri Make a Porno is one of those movies that I was really looking forward to watching. I'm a huge Kevin Smith fan and have loved just about every one of his movies (Chasing Amy is still my favourite though, closely followed by Dogma, Mall Rats and Clerks) and while Zack and Miri Make a Porno takes a step away from the View Askewniverse (like Jersey Girl before it), it still has that View Askewniverse feel about it. This is probably more down to the fact that both Jason Mewes and Jeff Anderson are amongst the principle cast, while Jennifer Schwalbach Smith makes a brief appearance.

I also enjoyed several of Seth Rogen's recent comedy performances (most notably Superbad and Pineapple Express). So I was expecting this to be another fine Smith movie. Sadly, while an enjoyable romp, it's not quite up to the standard of his previous films. The biggest problem, for me, was that twice during this movie I felt that Smith had kind of lost his way and started to become a little too cliched with his characters and the plot. There was also a slight feeling that this was revisiting old territory - a sort of poor man's Chasing Amy if you like. Zack and Miri Make a Porno felt very much like a step backward for Smith.

But then, at other times, it appeared to be a step up from the normal romantic comedy. For a start it flips the expected notion of boy not getting the girl on its head. Elizabeth Banks's Miri is a lot more attractive than Rogen's Zack, so when she starts to feel something for Zack, and is unsure if he feels the same, it seems more like a movie that centres around Miri's point of view than Zacks. This focus constantly flips between the two characters, and is ultimately a movie about the two of them.

Watching the extras on the DVD it appeared that Smith wasn't really ready to make this film. He admits that the studio green lit the movie on the back of the title, and that a script wasn't really ready. Also, once Seth Rogen was onboard, he seemed to pretty much dictate the casting - or suggest actors to Smith for various parts.

While Rogen and Banks are incredible in their roles, for me the best character was Craig Robinson's Delaney. His stunned joy at being able to cast the female roles was about the funniest thing in the film. And the scenes where he's henpecked by his wife (Tisha Campbell-Martin) were also hilarious - they also add another level of comedy showing her as a racist black woman who talks down to whites.

One of the inspired pieces of casting was Brandon Routh and Justin Long as the gay couple that Zack meets at the school reunion and who he gets the idea to make a porn film from. But then there isn't really any bad acting here - unless you want to gripe that Schwalbach Smith's part is a little off. Her character comes across as a total bitch with a serious attitude problem and, for me anyway, the acting came across as a little forced. Then there's the fact that Traci Lords (playing Bubbles) can't act, so thankfully she hardly speaks - but she's had way too much bad plastic surgery. In fact at first I thought she was a transsexual.

Extras include Popcorn Porn (1 hr, 14 min, 48 sec making of feature that looks at every aspect of the making of the movie. It's also worth watching the end credits, as there's an amusing outtake); Cast Interviews with Seth & Elizabeth (14 mins in which the two leads interview one another); Naughty Extras (2 min, 01 sec featurette where the cast play with a pot of liquid that's supposed to be fake semen. Although, this is the only extra, so I'm not sure why it's called "Naughty Extras" - unless that's a porn reference); and trailers for other releases. On the main movie it's also worth watching the end credits as there's quite a lengthy additional segment.

While Zack and Miri Make a Porno is far from being a bad film, I couldn't help thinking that it could have been so much more.

7

Nick Smithson