Zack and Miri Make A Porno

I'd like to start this review by saying that I am not the world's biggest Kevin Smith fan. Don't hate the guy; I just don't like some of his movies as much as many around me do. Mallrats had some good parts, Clerks 2 had a few laughs, too. Sometimes his movies just get a bit aimlessly preachy for my taste, but to each his/her own. I am, however, as much a sucker for Seth Rogen as the next dude, and Elizabeth Banks has proven to be pretty awesome in stuff like Wet Hot American Summer and Scrubs and such. And I liked the poster that our silly little nation has banned.

I'm glad I watched it. It was different from a normal Kevin Smith movie, but not unrecognizably so. It had just the right about of Kevin Smith wit; he did a pretty good job of restraining the fluff and keeping the jokes reasonable. No 15 minute Star Wars rants in this one, although I can see how that is sometimes necessary.

To state the obvious, Seth Rogen is Zack Brown and Elizabeth Banks is Miri(am) Linky, longtime friends since the first grade. They grew up together, and now they live together, nice and platonic. One day, their utilities get shut down, and they realize they can't even pay the rent. So they have to do something, and we all know how that ends up. And you'll know pretty much throughout the whole movie, but the good thing is Kevin Smith acknowledges that and makes it work.

Seth Rogen is great in it. He's almost the same as usual. Elizabeth banks was highly enjoyable, and her scene at the High School Reunion was hilarious, her desperation and awkwardness were perfect. Which brings me to my next point: Brandon Routh was awesome in this movie. It's great that he can be Superman and then be fucking around in a little Kevin Smith movie. He definitely helps class up the film.

I really do have the say that I felt and saw an actual connection between Rogen and Banks, Zack and Miri. It's a good pair, they're both kinda dry and witty. Definitely more on-screen chemistry than Rogen and Heigl.

I gotta say, I thoroughly enjoyed the little slice of Monroe, Pennsylvania that Kevin Smith has cooked up in Zack and Miri Make a Porno. The entire cast was perfect, though slight in number, each character was indeed a character. Especially Craig Robinson, who is incredibly and restrainedly hilarious in this movie. Zack and Miri Make a Porno has the perfect amount of Kevin Smith in it, and a good portion of that is included in the jokes, which are often crude, but couldn't sound better coming from anyone other than Seth Rogen. It seems that Kevin Smith has finally caved in and made what can almost be called a normal romantic-comedy, albeit a great one. It's quaint but simultaneously so much the opposite. Whether this will impress or duress longtime fans of Smith's, only time and the messageboards can tell.

7/7