At the Entertainment Weekly Visionaries of Filmmaking panel at the San Diego Comic-Con this past summer, Judd Apatow8212;director of “Knocked Up” and “The 40 Year Old Virgin”8212;cited Kevin Smith as an influence, saying he had laid down the track for the type of films he wanted to make.
Smith’s first film, “Clerks,” was a raunchy tale of two guys in their 20s stuck in dead-end jobs. When Apatow saw it for the first time, he was amazed someone could actually consider that a movie. It opened his eyes and he began to make stars out of Steve Carell and Seth Rogen with his own brand of raunchy sex comedies.
Now the tables have turned slightly and Smith is stepping into Apatow’s territory8212;and borrowing a few of his regulars8212;with his new movie “Zack and Miri Make a Porno.” The title says it all, and with stars Rogen and Elizabeth Banks, Smith knocks this one out of the park.
Watch the red band trailer for Zack and Miri Make a Porno:
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Smith, usually known for his wordy, quick-paced dialogue, has taken a giant step as a filmmaker with this movie. His trademarks are all still there (including Jason Mewes), but he has a lot of help from the new actors he’s cast this time around. He’s not afraid to stretch his wings and try a few different things here and there.
The title of the film basically gives the plot away, but for clarification purposes here’s a bit more: Zack (Rogen) and Miri (Banks) have been friends since first grade and have never been more than just that. They’ve lived together for years, and when they run out of money for rent and utility bills they enlist a few friends and budding “stars” to help them make a porno to get the money they need. If you’ve ever seen a movie by Smith, you’ll probably figure out this is also a love story at heart. It’s just filled with sex8212;lots of sex.
Rogen and Banks make a great comedic team and are able to play off each other in a spectacular fashion. It probably helps that they have a lot to work with, thanks to Smith’s witty dialogue, but they are able to give the characters of Zack and Miri a genuine quality. If their comedic approach wasn’t so spot on, the whole movie would fall apart.
The rest of the cast8212;including Smith regulars8212;does a good job, but Craig Robinson steals every scene he’s in. As the producer of the porno, he seems to be the glue holding the whole project together (also because it’s him the characters borrow all the equipment and money from). His presence and delivery are so good that it brought a smile to my face whenever he showed up on screen.
Smith’s work in previous films has been bashed for his stationary, single-shot camera style, but this time around, he and David Klein, the director of photography, have expanded their scope and given the actors more room to move around and live in the world they’ve created.
The only downside to the film is that Smith still has some of the worst taste in music of all time. There are directors like Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino that can set a song to a scene and make it work brilliantly8212;but Smith is not one of them. The opening credit sequence set to a mid-’90s Primus song did nothing but bring to mind how, even 10 years later, that band still sucks.
With no Ben Affleck, Jason Lee or Jay and Silent Bob in sight, “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” might not look like a Smith movie, but it sure feels like one. After the mild disappointments of “Clerks II” and “Jersey Girl,” Smith is finally back on track.
Oh, but don’t bother trying to see the movie at any of Larry H. Miller’s Megaplex Theatres8212;it’s been deemed too raunchy for his wholesome chain. But if you want to see a woman get decapitated and other bloody, gore-filled scenes, head on down8212;they’re playing “Saw V” on multiple screens. Talk about double standards.