3. Zack And Miri Make A Porno

Another day, another movie.  I felt slightly intimidated the other day when hooking up with my main man Ross who told me in the short time since I'd seen him last, he'd watched about 20 odd movies, 17 of which were shitty vampire movies, which pretty much put my three movies and one tv series to shame in hindsight. So we hit the last of the Z's with a bit of a sentimental favourite but one I'm dreading hasn't aged well.

So without further ado...

ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO (2008 dir. Kevin Smith)

What would I do to get out of debt? Probably beg the parents for money most likely...

Why I bought it/Why I liked it:

It's Kevin Smith. Long story short, Kev was the reason why I fell in love with film and the prospect of film making. I was first introduced to him in a 1998 interview in Wizard and he came across as super cool, really knew his comics and just through that interview I wanted to watch one of his movies, specifically Clerks which in the heady days of VHS was a little hard to come by, especially in the UK.

I did eventually watch Clerks thanks to my Media Studies teacher, the great Jon James, in college and was blown away.  Here was this smart sharp funny script, filmed on a budget and it became one of my favourite movies of all time. Still is. It's number 2 after Wayne's World.

Fast forward many a year and I stayed loyal to Kev, for every dubious film he'd release, there'd be an equally sharp 'An Evening With...' DVD or great comic book series. I stuck with Kev because he always seemed like one of the good guys.

So imagine to my surprise when I saw actual advertising for a Kevin Smith film on the sides of buses, telephone booths and the like.  It didn't hurt that the extremely affable Seth Rogen was starring in it too, a man whose comedies I had started watching and had grown on me rather quickly to the point where he'll appear a few times in this blog.

I watched it and was thrilled that Jeff Anderson had a role too, the man who portrayed Randal in Clerks and was by far one of my favourite characters. So I watched it and was pleasantly surprised at how entertaining it was too. So when it got cheap enough in CEX (a mere 50p), a purchase I did go...

If I think it'll stay in the collection:

There's a part of me that really wants it to but there's this nagging feeling it'll go on the trade pile.  That's the problem I feel I'll have with a lot of these comedies from a certain period. It's been 11 years, will it have aged well or is the humour just topical of the time it was made?

In truth I can remember like three things about it:

1. It's a sweet story between the two leads
2. Justin Longs deep voice
3. THAT Live song ('Hold Me Up')

Hopefully, by rewatching it I will remember how funny it is and not succumb to my Kev bias. We'll find out...

The review:

Ah shit, it got me.

I knew I was on a back foot when just the menu loaded up and treated me to the audio delight that is Jermaine Stewarts' 'We Don't Have To Take Our Clothes Off...', one of the most catchy songs of all time.

I must say the intro is weird, almost reminiscent of a TV Movie opening but then the jokes start flowing, dependable performances from Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Craig Robertson and it becomes a breeze of a film to watch honestly.

Realistically, in no way is it believable, no way a schlub like Zack could go out with cute next door girl Miri but that's the movies, it sucks you in, it makes you believe that something like that could happen and you have a good time watching it...without taking your clothes off.

Robertson really gives the movie that oomph by just nailing every one of his lines and Mewes puts in his classic Mewes performance by playing the lovable goof. Brandon Routh, the best ever Superman AND the best only Atom, shows how criminally under-used of an actor he is by being charming as all shit in his brief appearance and the whole thing is just shot great and it feels like a warm hug of a movie...with tits.

There are a few cringy bits, Kev's bits involving the 'n' word feel a bit too much like a white guy wanting to use the 'n' word a bit too much (Tarantino sort of has the same problem) and the casting couch scene in which women undress in front of a nervous Craig Robertson. In a movie produced by the Weinstein brothers. *Sharp intake of breath through clenched teeth*

No that isn't LGR on the left and Katherine Ryan on the right...

 I also laughed pretty hard at the inevitable shit gag, proving that my humour is still as juvenile as it's ever been so this could bode well for future movies.


Should it stay or should it go?

Yeah, it stays. I don't think it's Kev bias either, it's genuinely a sweetheart of a film and gets a rock-solid 7.5 out of 10 for me.

As an afterthought even though I forgot most of this film ( I forgot Star Whores!), the Live track always stuck with me and for years I wished that a decent studio quality version of the track existed. Thankfully Throwing Copper turned 25 not long ago and lo and behold, look what got added as a bonus track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhkZnFVb7KI

Phenomenal.

Until next time, I remain,

Matt Major.