My First Movie Review: "Zack and Miri"

For my very first movie review, I'm very glad to have the new Kevin Smith movie; Zack and Miri Make a Porno.

W. introduced me to Kevin Smith not long after we started dating. For those who don't recognize the name, Smith is the writer/creator of the infamous movies Clerks, Clerks II, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, as well as the wonderful movies Dogma and Jersey Girl (can you tell they're my favorites?). We definitely love Kevin Smith, and Zack and Miri didn't hamper that adoration.

First, lets talk about who's in it.
The main stars are Seth Rogan (made famous by Superbad, Knocked-Up, and The 40-yr-old Virgin) and Elizabeth Banks (previously in The 40-yr-Virgin, Spider-man, and the upcoming movie Role Models). I'm not that big on Rogan, but I do think Banks is pretty hot, and it's not the first time we've seen her in his movies.
With them (the porno cast) was Jason Mewes (previously the infamous Jay of Jay and Silent Bob), Jeff Anderson (from the Clerks movies), and Craig Robinson (from Daddy's Little Girls, Pineapple Express, and a small part in Knocked Up) among some other sexy bodies.

Also popping up in the film is Justin Long, and a delightfully surprising Brandon Routh (Clark Kent from Superman Returns).

I was, however, dissapointed that Smith himself didn't show up at any point for a cameo, but I didn't really expect it anyway.

The basic premise is that Zack and Miri - best friends since childhood- are living together and desperate for money. While escaping their heatless apartment at a local bar, Zack comes up with the idea to create a porno to make some money. After some debating and deciding, they set out to find a cast and crew, and try to make a porno.
They quickly come into trouble with money, locations, and who-does-what-when. Not to mention the obvious and unavoidable romantic troubles between Zack and Miri.

When it came to sex, this movie was chock full of it. Kevin Smith movies have always been steeped in sexual innuendos and jokes, but I was fairly surprised (although I shouldn't have been) at the amount of blatant sex. At the first shot of nudity (a full female frontal), I was shocked and delighted, probably thinking something along the lines of "Yay, there are boobs in the movie!!"
And boobs there were.

I'm ecstatic that there was no attempt to lower the rating of this movie to reach a bigger audience, or cut down on the nudity and blatant sex. I mean, you can't make a movie about making a porno without actually showing the making of the porno. So hurray for you, Kevin Smith, for not pussy-ing out on the much-needed nudity.

W and I agree that there were a lot of places where you could see Seth Rogen's influence on the film. I'm not too fond of him myself (I like Knocked-Up, but can't get into his others), but I think the movie came out great.

I can't think of any real problems with it right off the bat. It uses a lot of the type of movie style Kevin Smith is famous for (specifically, a movie that revolves around people and conversations), and I really like that.

Overall I think they did great job with the storyline. It starts simply, has a single main story, and even uses some autobiographical events based on Smith's work in the movie biz. I was slightly disappointed with the ending, and if you see it you'll probably see why (if not, you're welcome to ask, but I write no spoilers >.<), but I did enjoy it anyway.

It was a really fun movie and I definitely recommend it.

(Speaking of Porn, why not stop by and get some? ^-^)