Zack And Miri Make A Porno - Preview

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Rated: R

Distributor: The Weinstein Company

Release Date: 2008-10-31

Starring: Seth Rogen (Zack), Elizabeth Banks (Miri), Jason Mewes, Traci Lords, Jeff Anderson, Katie Morgan, Rick Mabe, Tom Savini, Craig Robinson

Directed by Kevin Smith

Produced by Scott Mosier

Written by Kevin Smith

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Previewed by Josh Tyler : 2008-09-23 16:47:09

Zack and Miri are two lifelong platonic friends who are deep in debt and enlist the help of their friends to make a porno movie for some quick cash. But as everybody starts "doing" everybody, Zack and Miri realize that they may have more feelings for each other than they previously thought.

The title really says it all doesn’t it? It’s a plot synopsis, a marketing plan, and a movie title all rolled into one. Who needs a movie poster? Just write the title on a piece with “directed by Kevin Smith”, and audiences will show up to see it. Well some audiences. Ok, certain audiences. Kevin Smith’s audiences.

You either like Kevin Smith, hate Kevin Smith, or have no idea who Kevin Smith is. The guy has an established crowd who he can count on to show up for his movies, and outside of that the world at large just doesn’t seem to get it. He’s kind of like the white Tyler Perry, and personally I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Still, if Kevin’s ever going to have a breakout hit, Zack and Miri Make a Porno has a good chance to be it. It’s the cast stupid. The movie stars Hollywood breakout headliners Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks in its story of two friends making amateur pornography. Don’t expect to see Rogen’s penis though. At least I hope we won’t see Rogen’s penis. Hey Kev, can we get some sort of guarantee on that?

Penis or not, Seth Rogen’s kind of a big deal, and Elizabeth Banks is on the verge of being a big deal herself. It’s also a pretty big deal for Kevin Smith, a guy who’s movies usually star his friends, and not bankable Hollywood talent. Maybe that’ll be enough to wake audiences up to his genius. And make no mistake, genius is what he is. If you weren’t already convinced by Chasing Amy, then Clerks II solidified it. What other filmmaker could make a sweet, romantic movie with donkey sex? Ok, maybe Judd Apatow, but even he has the good sense not to show the burro.

Maybe Seth and Elizabeth won’t be enough to get the average moviegoer out though. Who knows? Not long ago USA Today printed the ridiculous assertion that moviegoers won’t watch something with porno in the title. Maybe they’re right. Or maybe they simply weren’t aware that the entire internet was built on people’s undying love of sex and nudity. Pornography is pretty popular, and I doubt it’s popularity will suddenly die down because Kevin Smith puts the word “porno” in his movie title. Even Kevin Smith doesn’t have the power to kill mankind’s lust for new barely legal videos.

Not that Smith would ever make an actual porno. Porn may be in the title, but like all of Smith’s movie Zack and Miri will likely only use nudity, and his trademark dick and fart jokes to say something deeper. Of the film Smith says, “What's weird about it is, it's dirty. But it's so incredibly sweet.” Sounds like a Judd Apatow movie again, doesn’t it? Except Smith was doing Apatow long before Apatow was Apatow. He just doesn’t get the credit. Kevin knows dirty and sweet, and Zack and Miri Make a Porno should be something pretty special.

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