Yes, I worship at the temple of Kevin Smith. I do not deny it. The man has a knack for clever dialog that captures the way people really have conversations. Yes, he writes in a way that probably more foul than most people speak, but he gets his point across. The man has tackled lesbians, malls, slackers, religion and Hollywood all with great wit and a considerable charm. Lately, a new comedy king has replaced Smith. The new King, Judd Apatow, also worshipped at the temple of Kevin Smith, as he has stated numerous times. Therefore, it makes perfect sense for Kevin Smith to recruit some Apatow players- Seth Rogen, Daryl Robinson and Elizabeth Banks- and put them in this movie. The title alone has raised eyebrows and caused quite a stir. It was originally slapped with an NC-17 rating and then changed to R, but what else is new with Kevin Smith. The man has been a thorn in the side of the MPAA for most of his career. But has he lost his touch? The first footage shown made it seem like, yes he had lost his touch, but the official trailers looked good and I was somewhat optimistic.
The title pretty much says it all, in the way Snakes on a Plane or The Hiest sum up their movies. Zack(Rogen) and Miri(Banks) are platonic best friends who live together and barely make ends meet. Their water is shut off on the night they are to go to their high school reunion but they go anyway because Miri hopes she can nail Bobby Long(Brandon Routh), on whom she had a crush in high school. At the reunion, Zack meets Brandon who is a gay porn star who gets all of his profits because he makes and distributes his own porn. Desperate for cash, Zack and Miri find themselves making a porno. At first they set out to make Star Whores, which is accompanied by a brutally hilarious montage, but things go wrong and they end up shooting a porno in the coffee house where Zack works. They shoot after hours and assemble a crack-pot team to help. Deleney(Robinson) is the producer and talent scout and he finds them a few good men and women. With the day of reckoning upon them, Zack and Miri make their porno debut as stars, but something happens during their scene that complicates everything. The two must confront deep hidden feelings they had for each other all along.
Much has been made of Seth Rogen getting impossibly hot women in his movies. Girls that look like Katherine Hiegl and Elizabeth Banks do not belong with overweight, sweaty, and hairy men. Whatever. These are male fantasy movies. Women have movies where disgustingly gorgeous men say and do all the right things all of the time. They have movies that exist in false realities where old lovers die in each other's arms after a life of shared passion. That is the fantasy women have. Men have the fantasy that they can get the hot girl. What is the difference, in reality, between The Notebook and Knocked up? They were hits based in fantasy. Zack and Miri is another one of those male fantasy movies, except, the way Elizabeth Banks plays Miri it is easy to see her and Rogen together. The woman is a comedic gem in this movie, which is saying something because typically women in Kevin Smith movies struggle to keep up. Banks is up for the challenge matching bad word for bad word. She is not afraid of looking foolish, which is good when her granny panties are a main subject for the film.
Is this movie for everyone, no, of course not. Kevin Smith knows his audience and he gives them what they like. He gives an insanely hilarious comedy, full of bad language, wit and that trademark charm. He also delivers on the porno promise using former porn star Traci Lords and current porn star Katie Morgan along with a few good men and they do not shy away from shooting that porno. That being said, the porn making delivers some great laughs on its own. When Jason Mewes(Going the full monty in the end) is giving it to Katie Morgan a drunken fool wanders in and wants coffee, totally not catching on that sex is going on. Kevin Smith begat an entire generation of young men with his movies and while he nods to the success of Judd Apatow, he is not ready to give up his crown as King Man-Child. What Zack and Miri lacks in class and tact, it makes up for with fast jokes that come so rapid fire, when one doesn't make you laugh, you do not even have time to register it before the next one does make you laugh.
Seth Rogen is a very funny guy, but what makes him more than just funny is that he is likable. He is relatable. He is not going to win any Oscars but he has found a nice niche in the movie industry and I know there are those who hate him, but I think he is a very funny man. He continues that in this movie. He has a great chemistry with all of the people involved and he also captures the pathetic nature of Zack. Smith and Rogen really crafted a nice character who is not just funny. he is very sad in the first twenty minutes and only when he gets motivated do we see why all of his friends like him so much. The supporting cast all do wonderfully, with Jeff Anderson and Jason Mewes stealing some of the better jokes and the one true moment of scat humor is set up so perfectly that it borders on genius and I typically hate scat humor.
Kevin Smith is a man loved by many and hated by just as many, but he is a man who has always made the movie he wanted to make. He is not afraid to tackle the tough issues in absurd way. There is a way to look at this movie as a look at things to come as more and more people are hit with financial trouble and it points out the absurdity of how mainstream pornography is. I am not saying it is a good thing, but Smith is there to show us how ridiculous the whole thing is. Zack and Miri is another hilarious comedy in a year already stacked with great comedies. I am waiting for Smith to branch out to another genre, but until he does, I will continue to welcome his writing and in this movie, even the direction. He utilizes slow motion to great success in two very poignant moments in the movie and he seems much more confident overall in his direction.
Final Grade: A-
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