Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Zack & Miri are best friends and roommates. They are unabashedly losers with dead end jobs, no money and a crappy apartment in a Pittsburgh suburb. With rent due, their heat and water turned off and an embarrassing high school reunion to overcome, Zack has the brilliant idea to make and distribute a porno. They encounter problems along the way, both with the movie’s production and with their relationship.
YAWN. There are no surprises here, it’s just a run of the mill, formulaic movie with a regimented plot structure injected with PORNO to make it seem different.
That being said, there are a lot of funny jokes. Seth Rogen is believeable as…Seth Rogen. Elizabeth Banks, fresh from her turn as Laura Bush in W. isn’t given too much to do except look cute and be kind of slutty (does Hollywood need another one of her? Seriously, I can do that. No, I DO do that, but it would be awesome to get paid for it!) Being a longtime Kevin Smith fan, I liked seeing Jason Mewes as one of the porn stars. He was actually kind of decent. Jeff Anderson also managed to get work as the porn’s camera man. No, he’s not in the porno, so you don’t have to watch him have simulated sex with anyone (thank god for small favors). The rest of the cast is also quite funny. Craig Robinson who is probably best known as Darryl on NBC’s The Office is always hilarious and ought to be on his way to bigger parts instead of being relegated to these scene-stealing co-star roles. I’m not sure if he’ll be up to the challenge, but I’d be surprised if someone didn’t give him a chance. Maybe a buddy movie with Martin Lawrence or something? Eh, that sounds awful, actually.
The thing about movies like Zack & Miri Make a Porno that has been lamented already more times than I can count is that a fat shlub like Seth Rogen could never get a hot chick like Elizabeth Banks. I don’t know, on a good day I’m a hot chick (no Elizabeth Banks or anything) and I would totally fuck Seth Rogen. Even if he wasn’t famous. I think that most guys have learned by now that the quickest way into a girl’s pants is to make her laugh, right? If you haven’t, take note. It is.
I liked Zack & Miri. I won’t be rushing out to buy the DVD or anything, but I liked it. I also appreciate that even though there are various feminist theories that hold porn and its existence as being inherently degrading and bad for women (see MacKinnon, Catharine and Dworkin, Andrea) this movie felt to me much less misogynistic than so many Hollywood films. The women in the movie aren’t helpless (well, Miri is broke, but so is Zack), they’re sexually liberated and aren’t punished for it. Even the bimbo porn starlet is dumb, sure, but she’s also a complete person. Ironic, maybe, but I think Kevin Smith has admirably pro-female tendencies in his films. I’d never thought about it before, but looking back at his filmography, I think it’s certainly true. Hm. I’m going to think about this further…
*Please note, a positive review of this movie is by no means an endorsement for the horrible posters, which I LOATHE.