Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Anything Seth Rogen does lately seems to succeed. He's on fire right now. He's making hilarious movies, and they seem to be coming out one right after the other right after the other. It's intense.

I recently watched Zack and Miri Make a Porno, written and directed by Kevin Smith, and I wasn't disppointed. Rogen lived up to his hilarious role. There is just something about his deliverance, his personality, his acting that makes him the comedic powerhouse that he is. Smith wrote the role for Rogen (after watching him in The 40-Year-Old Virgin) and originally wrote the role of Miri for Rosario Dawson. Dawson had already signed on to a new project, so the role went to newcomer Elizabeth Banks who looks like typical simple cute girls that Smith casts for his leading females.

Smith is a writer and director that I really respect. He can be hit or miss with me, but his humor and his writing and normally spot-on and hilarious. This film really connected with me. It was a great idea (especially with the economy the way it is) and it was executed very well.

The premise is that Zack and Miri are best friends since they were young, they live together, and they can't pay the bills. So, they decide to make a porno to make payments on their apartment so the utilities can be turned back on (especially since it's winter time). The chemistry between the two characters was great. They made a good pair, and they made the screenplay believable.

I also think it's really cool that Kevin Smith has his own crew of friends and actors that he gets to work with. You see this a lot with certain comedy powerhouses. Adam Sandler has a group he always acts with. Ben Stiller is the same way. Kevin Smith included Jason Mewes (Jay), Jeff Anderson (Randall from Clerks), his wife, and Craig Robinson (from The Office). Rogen seemed to fit in very well with these guys.



It must have been really fun for Rogen to come up with various fake titles for porno movies. He really played on Star Wars with their first attempt to make Star Whores. Other good titles were sprinkled in just using the formula: Take a popular movie, include some language to make it obvious that it's a porno, and give the premise and plotline of the movie using those few words. It's true and it's genius.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno also gave the opportunity for Smith to make fun of pornographic movies, their creators, their stars, and their fans. The acting was so bad when they were making the movie, which I thought was hilarious. It must be hard to pretend to be a bad actor when you're not. It must have been ridiculous to film too--pretending to film a porno probably isn't the easiest task for an actor.

But, I thought that it was clever overall. I want to throw in some cool facts from the movie that I learned just by scoping the internet in the past few minutes:

This is Kevin Smith's second film (after Jersey Girl) that was not set within his production company View Askewniverse.

This is his first film not set in New Jersey. It was set in Pittsburg.

When the movie released, it fell behind High School Musical 3: Senior Year. That troubles me.

To date, this is Rogen's worst box-office opening film.

One scene of the movie was set in the Monroeville Mall where Dawn of the Dead was shot. Tom Savini, who did special effects for the movie, made a cameo appearance in the film.

Traci Lords, who plays Bubbles in the film, is an actual porn star.

Live's song "Hold Me Up" was used in the film, a song that Smith tried to incorporate in a movie of his since he first heard it in 1995.

Live denied Smith to use it two times (first in Mallrats and then in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back). Live finally agreed for this movie.

One movie poster appeared to look like Rogen and Banks receiving oral sex, so that movie poster was banned in the US but was still posted in Canada. (Posted below)

Companies complained to promote the film in advertisements because of the use of the word "porno" in the title.

So, what do you think of Zack and Miri Make a Porno?