Dir. Kevin Smith
Writ. Kevin Smith
Act. Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Craig Robinson

This is one of the funniest movies of 2008 and carries a nice message.

It's not perfect, but perfect enough.

Lifelong platonic friends Zack and Miri, played by Seth Rogan and Elizabeth Banks (40-Year-Old Virgin), look to solve their respective cash-flow problems by making an adult film together. As the camera rolls, however, the duo begin to sense they may have more feelings for each other than they previously thought.

Like most Kevin Smith written and directed projects, the dialogue is this movie's best quality. It's witty and irreverent, like I like it. It represents the way close friends act; open and brutally embarrassing. It provides for much of the movies best laughs.

I feel Smith over time has become a far better screenwriter than a director. His visual style hasn't changed in 15 years; however, one sequence in the movie where Stacey, played by former porn star Katie Morgan, asks Zack to sleep with her. The two make a long agonizing slow-motion stroll to his bedroom, while Miri and Zack never lose eye contact was a perfect decision. The stroll, knowing Miri had feelings for Zack, was painful…just as painful as Miri would've been.

One of Smith's strengths is he allows actors lot of room to improv and make different choices, and in turn, he does a good job of editing the right choices together.

Rogan and Banks were amazing as the title characters. At no point did we ever NOT know what each of them was feeling for each other. They pair conveyed it perfectly with their unspoken tools.

The story was very simple. Maybe it was even too simple; however, the third act was a little weak for me. Zack is brought in to watch the rough edit of the finished porno and has a realization that he loves Miri when he sees their sex scene. The problem is, Zack didn't need that moment. He already professed to Miri that he loved her. It was Miri who needed to have the realization and tell Zack how she felt.

With that, I think Smith missed the target in Act Three.

The only other problem I had with the film was, I didn't care to see Jason Mewes' c*ck and balls and brown eye; however, his character was very funny. Some shots were just not needed, because they were for simple shock and awkwardness, not any real comedy.

It was also nice to see Eric Anderson (Clerks and Clerks II) in another Smith film, as well as Craig Robinson (TV's The Office) who provided many laughs. Robinson is working like a madman this last couple years. Just goes to show you, if you get offered even the smallest part on a potentially popular TV sit-com, TAKE IT!!!

Overall, "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" is one of the best movies of the year. It has big laughs and a big heart. But with a couple of adjustments, it could have been the BEST movie of the year.

Benn - Where's the Humanity?