Zack and Miri Make a Porno [Blu-ray]
Starring: Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Craig Robinson, Jason Mewes, Jeff AndersonDirector: Kevin Smith
Studio: Weinstein Company
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen
Running Time: 101 minutes
DVD Release: February 3rd 2009
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DVD Review
Get ready for the wild comedy that goes where no movie has dared go before! Seth Rogen (Pineapple Express) and Elizabeth Banks (Role Models) star as two cash-strapped roommates who try to get out of debt by making an adult film. Once the cameras start rolling, things quickly get complicated...and hilarious! Writer/Director Kevin Smith is at his funniest, backed by a motley cast, including Craig Robinson ("The Office"), Jason Mewes (Clerks films), Justin Long (Live Free or Die Hard), and Brandon Routh (Superman Returns). Critics promise, "If you liked The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and Superbad, you'll love Zack and Miri" (Shawn Edwards, Fox-TV).
User Reviews
Sporadically funny - Rating: 3/5
The Bottom Line:
The first half an hour or so of Zack and Miri Make a Porno (particularly the High School reunion scene) is often quite funny but soon the movie falls into Knocked Up mode, so desperate to cling to a formulaic romantic plot that it forgets to be a comedy too; even fans of Kevin Smith are likely to be disappointed in the mixed bag of a film.
2.5/4
HOW TO RECEIVE SPECIFIC ITEMS FAST AND CHEAP. - Rating: 5/5
ORDERED THIS DVD ON A RECOMMENDATION - HAVEN'T SEEN YET, BUT RECEIVED IT QUICKLY AND INTACT - THANKS
A VERY STRANGE MIX OF SWEET AND SOUR! - Rating: 3/5
After watching 'My Best Friend's Girl', I expected this film to be really funny. With a cast like this it's pretty hard to fail, but in some ways...it does. The mix of raunchy and romance is really a little jarring at times and the whole porno movie thing is really just a backdrop for a routine romantic comedy with a lot of profanity. It's a shame because I would have liked this film to continue on after the porno was made. It's not a bad film, but I expected more from this crew. The DVD transfer is excellent and the 2 disc edition has some interesting extras.
Hmmm... so that's what Jason Mewes looks like naked. - Rating: 4/5
Porn has gone mainstream! Twenty years ago it was something quiet and shameful; relegated to curtained-off areas of your local non-chain video store. Before that, all there was were creepy little theatres showing such epics as "Behind the Green Door", and "Deep Throat".
Now, though, it's so mainstream it seems like anyone can do it, and that's the thrust, as it were, of "Zack and Miri Make a Porno", or, as it says on the box where I bought it, "Zack and Miri", cause the retailer is willing to make money off it, but they don't want to risk offending anyone who might see the word "porno".
And make no mistake; this is a potentially very offensive movie. It's also incredibly hilarious, and one of Kevin Smith's best!
The plot centers around Zack and Miri, two people in their late-twenties who are desperate for money. They've lost their power, they've lost their water and they're facing eviction. What ever are they to do?
Then they come up with an idea: make a porno. Not just any porno, mind you, but "Star Whores", a geekfest porno, featuring all the action geeks think they might like to some day see. Events spiral from there, plans get changed, the movie gets changed, and there's a lot of nudity and gross-out humor.
I must say, I laughed my backside off at this film. It's like all the best of a Kevin Smith movie mixed with some of Apatow's better works. It's not perfect, but it's pretty darn hilarious! I never laughed so hard as I did when I saw someone get their cake frosted, as it were. Sure, it was predictable, but still great. Plus, hey, as I said in the title, if you've ever wanted to see Jason Mewes naked, now you can.
I'm glad to see that Kevin Smith is branching out beyond the View Askewniverse. He's got some real talent and it's nice to see him display that here. This movie isn't for everyone, but fans of his previous work, as well as movies like "Superbad" and "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" will likely have a great time!
Kevin Smith Repeats Himself - Rating: 3/5
I was an avid Kevin Smith fan early in his career. "Clerks", "Mallrats", and "Chasing Amy" were inventive and original. For the last ten years or so Smith seems to be resting on his laurels. He seems to think a barrage of scatalogical dialogue and outrageous visual gags is creative. It just gets numbing and tiresome after awhile. Yes, there is a theme here in that can you fully divorce feeling from the sexual act if you truly love the one your with. Noble sentiment but it's undermined by the barrage of crude humor. Smith should look to his predecessors like Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, and the Farrelly brothers to see how to pull this off. Better yet is taking cues from Jud Apatow who probably could mined this material for all it's worth. It seems like Smith is trying to push the envelope of what you can get away with in an "R" rated movie instead making something profound and lasting. Finally, star Seth Rogen is one of the brightest comic stars to come along in awhile. Hopefully, he can extend himself as an artist because even he is starting to repeat himself.
