review: Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)

Sometimes I wonder if Seth Rogen sleeps… he seems to be in everything these days…

Anyway, Zack and Miri Make a Porno is the new film from Kevin Smith, director of such films as Clerks, Dogma and Chasing Amy. I’ve mentioned before that I’m not mad about Kevin Smith. It’s not that I think he’s a bad director or anything though, he’s just never… set my mind alight as it were. Still, I thought the film sounded interesting so I was eager to go along and see it. I mean, it’s called Zack and Miri Make a Porno!

In case you haven’t heard or guessed what Zack and Miri Make a Porno is about yet, it’s about a couple of best platonic friends from high school, Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks), who finds themselves broke and desperate and, due to an extremely funny chance encounter, decide that the best way to get rich quick is to make a porno. Did you guess right?

Zack and Miri is one of those films that they’re calling “a romantic comedy for guys”. Forgetting Sarah Marshall was another one and I had a good laugh at that too. Zack and Miri was better than FSM though. What I’m always looking for in a film is heart and there are some really great moments in Zack and Miri. What works for it is the relationship between Miri and Zack, it’s believable. Sure, she’s a good looking girl and he looks like an ape but they both seem like normal people who could just be friends. In fact that’s what’s great about the film. Sure, a couple of mates making a porno sounds mad and some of the things that happen are a bit mad but the essence of the film is real. Everything that happens between them seems real, there’s none of this overly dramatic romantic crap that you see in some romantic comedies. It’s just about two people and how they realise they’re in love on the set of a porno film.

But anyway, I feel like I should mention some other stuff… I thought it was very funny, but yeah, it’s toilet humour really. Also almost all the reviews I’ve read of the film so far make mention of the language. So I guess I should too. From an Irish perspective it’s not that bad, it sounded natural enough so it was grand. What I hate is when people are swearing in a film and it sounds like they’ve never sworn in their lives, ridiculous.

The other thing I want to mention is the soundtrack. The music in it is brilliant and there’s particularly excellent use of Hey by The Pixies. It’s a great song in a great scene. I’d actually never heard it before… had to go for a hunt for it when I got home.

So all in all I recommend this film.

8/10