Thursday, November 20, 2008

Zack And Miri Make A Porno


Preface: we are die hard Kevin Smith fans. We own his movies in various formats, met him personally, quote his flicks constantly [incessantly at times], and even own his books. Yes, we own books that contain the most inane and personal details most wouldn't want to know about any filmmaker or their closest of friends. For instance, Mr. Smith likes to beat off to nudies of his wife in the morning while said spouse sleeps or that he likes to play Nintendo DS while he takes his morning deuce. Needless to say, we spend a lot of our own personal life devouring anything and everything Kevin Smith. That being said, we were expecting a certain sort of movie out Zack and Miri Make A Porno. But before we get ahead of ourselves..

Kevin Smith's latest flick entails the story of two lifelong friends - Zack and Miri, natch - who find themselves unable to pay utilities bills and are on the verge of being homeless. As you might have guessed by this point, they decide to make their own porno with some friends and coworkers and all of a sudden you've got the first 15 minutes of the film. To quote Riley Freeman, "that's all you get for free." An extra $10-ish bucks is going to get you, in no particular order:

1. Seth Rogen doing his standard Apatow improv
2. Nudity up to your asshole
3. Elizabeth "I like to do it myself" Banks
4. One of the most unbelievable bodily fluids sight gags ever caught on celluloid
5. Darryl from The Office.. Enough said.

Not a bad lot considering your admission price, but something is definitely amiss once you actually plop your ass down in one of those sticky theater seats and start taking in the flick. For one, the film oscillates too much between the fart/dick jokes that have become the norm for Smith films of late and the touchy-feely rom-coms laden with epic monologues that Kevin seems to have a soft spot for. Now, generally this isn't a bad thing, especially since I've long considered Kevin Smith an expert at whipping together a ridiculous mish mash of poop jokes, unconventional love stories, and witty banter all without seeming like he's another Apatow disciple. Perhaps Kevin somehow lost his usual barometer for judging what makes it past editing, or maybe it's hard to ignore the presence of improv-tongued Seth Rogen, but for whatever reason Zack and Miri often feels uncertain. Kevin Smith once noted that his style is that he "has no style." This is taken to the nth degree in Zack and Miri and at times - several to be exact - you can't even tell this is a Kevin Smith film at all. The intellectual, sharp dialogue isn't as a engaging, but it has its moments; the characters get developed, but in the end you just don't seem that invested in Rogen's pornographic quagmire; a lot of the jokes are toss away gags and honestly, seem too childish even for Kevin Smith's usual demographic.

My qualms aside, Zack and Miri was a great watch. It might not have had the same effect Clerks or Mallrats or Dogma had on me, but I'm more than happy to throw a little coin at Kevin. Job well done, albeit unorthodox, at least in Kevin Smith standards. Although I wasn't that surprised, Craig Robinson pretty much ran away with this movie. Every moment he's on screen is gold and definitely carries the film a long way.

I might be a fan in denial, but I was able to ignore the bit of doubt clinging to the back of my head that maybe Kevin has lost it, maybe his time is up as a pioneer of honest, accessible moviemaking. But fuck that. If anything, I see this as a prime opportunity for Mr. Smith to start taking his stripped down visual style and proclivity to write humorous and thoughtful dialogue in other directions. His future projects include a sci-fi flick set in space and a thriller having to do with religious fanatics, both intriguing concepts and I hope he gets them off the ground. With that,

1. No Ben Affleck cameo?
2. Although it looks like a lot of fun, how feasible is a double-dutch rudder in a live-fire bedroom scenario?
3. Is anal sex really the preferred laxative for porn stars?
4. Is Black Friday really a corporate racist conspiracy to keep the black man down?

P.S. In case you're a horror junkie (like us), there are plenty of little zombie/Romero easter eggs in this flick. The Monroeville Mall, the hockey jersey Zack sports, plus a wonderful cameo from Sex Machine a.k.a. gore effects master Tom Savini!!