Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)

Movie Info

Meet the cast of Star Whores!

Zack Brown (Seth Rogan) and Miri Linky (Elizabeth Banks) are roommates and have been friends since kindergarten.  When they go to their ten year reunion and learn former school star Bobby Long (Brandon Routh) is dating a porn star Brandon St. Randy (Justin Long), Zack and Miri realize a porn could turn their dire financial situation around.  Recruiting Zack’s coworker Delaney (Craig Robinson) as a producer and Deacon (Jeff Anderson) as photographer, Miri and Zack recruit Lester (Jason Mewes), Bubbles (Traci Lords), Barry (Rick Mabe), and Stacey (Katie Morgan) to act in their film.  Will Zack and Miri’s relationship change if sex is introduced?

Written and directed by Kevin Smith, Zack and Miri Make a Porno (sometimes just referred to as Zack and Miri) is a comedy not set in Smith’s View Askew world.  The movie received  average to positive reviews and was considered a box office failure.

Love a good cup of coffee…and sex

Kevin Smith started out strong and when he tried to do what he did for the first time, it wasn’t as successful.  Chasing Amy showed a bit more depth, but he started to experiment with other formats.  Zack and Miri feels like Kevin Smith via Judd Apatow…and it isn’t very good.

The movie plays out like a romantic comedy with very little romance and very little laughs.  There were one or two laughable moments, but most of the jokes fell flat or like rehash of other movies like Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion and Knocked Up.  Smith’s writing doesn’t feel natural when he falls back into his own routine and style of jokes.

Looks like someone had corn!

Part of the reason it feels like a Judd Apatow film is that Smith utilizes Apatow’s players.  Seth Rogan, Elizabeth Banks, Jerry Bednob, and Craig Robinson all have been Apatow actors.  The porn actresses Katie Morgan and Traci Lords could have been fun, but they feel underused here.  Appearances by Brandon Routh and Justin Long are really just cameos.

The movie also has a more generic feel than most of Smith’s films and looks more like a Judd Apatow movie.  The movie shows nothing special.  It looks like a basic camera shoot, and it feels a bit claustrophobic in its use of small sets.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno isn’t a bad movie as much as it is a boring movie.  The movie is unbalanced and the different styles don’t mix well…and this negates the romance of the characters.  Despite the negative vibe of this movie, Smith’s follow-up Cop Out was an even worse film.