Monday, January 5, 2009

Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)


Movie quotes:
"I'm a guy. You give me a two popsicle sticks and a rubber band and I'll find a way to fuck it like a filthy MacGyver!"
- Zack (Seth Rogen)

Zack: I've known her since the first grade, you don't fuck someone you met in the first grade.
Delaney: Excuse me, I met my wife in kindergarten, we got married senior year, and she's been the queen of my world ever since.
Zack: But what if you could do it all over again?
Delaney: I would jerk off and live by myself. That woman is the bane of my existence.

Zack: Holy shit! I get it. I fucking get it. It was a test! That whole thing was a fucking test, is that it?
Miri (Elizabeth Banks): If it was, how do you think you did?

At a glance:
Writer/director Kevin Smith pushes the boundaries of bad taste in this profane, over the top, but often hilarious and sincere look at two platonic friends whose relationship changes when they make a porno film

Our review:
Long-time platonic friends and room-mates Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) are two marginal members of society, living in a run-down apartment and surviving paycheck to paycheck. When times gets even worse, and the water and power are shut off, they face life on the streets, unless they can raise money fast. Zack comes up with the bright idea to make a porno film, and, after a while, convinces Miri to do it too. They assemble a cast and start making an inept film, but all that changes when the sex scene between Zack and Miri turns into something more. Although it mostly relies on the shock value of profanity to boost its wittiness, there are still moments where director Kevin Smith flexes his talent and provides meaningful dialogue and sincere scenes filmed with good taste and beauty (like Zack and Miri’s lovemaking scene). It will be way too profane and truly tasteless for many people, who will sadly exclude it from being a huge success or gathering much acclaim, which is a shame, because in the end, it has its heart in the right place, and, in many ways, despite its raunchiness, it is the sweetest film that Smith has made to date. He’s aided in creating this sweetness by the radiant Banks, whose beaming literally pours emotion all over the camera lens. Rating: 3 of 4

Other reviewers said:
"For all his slacker street cred, [Smith] is at heart a romantic, and Zack and Miri Make a Porno may be the most romantic film Smith has ever made."
- Sean Means (Salt Lake Tribune)
"What I should add is that it's the funniest one I have seen in ages. And while it does feature an awful lot of swearing and cheerfully bad taste comic moments, it is also engagingly sentimental and sweetly romantic."
- Daily Mirror [UK]

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