Film Review--Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Zack and Miri Make a Porno
written and directed by Kevin Smith
starring Seth Rogan, Elizabeth Banks, Craig Robinson, Traci Lords, Jason Mewes, Jeff Anderson, Katie Morgan, Justin Long, Brandon Routh, Ricky Mabe


Life has turned on grade school friends Zack Brown (Rogan) and Miriam Linky (Banks). They have crummy jobs that don’t seem to pay their way, bills are piling up and they are facing the humiliation of their ten year high school reunion. As the film opens they are preparing to attend in the hopes that they might realize how much more of a loser their classmates turned out to be. After the letdown of the reunion they discover that their electricity and water have been shut off. Running out of ideas they hit on the one and only thing that makes any sense. They decide after knowing each other for twenty years that they will have sex with each other on film for money.

The film is basically a standard rate rom-com encased in a well-oiled Curved Jelly Rapture. It’s gooey, sticky sweet, and bound to leave cavities if precautions are not initiated. With all the fluids splashing about this turns out to be a heartwarming love story which should surprise nobody who has seen a single romantic comedy in the past thirty years.

The chemistry between the two leads works considerably well throughout the film. Their story is believable and their arcs are worth getting behind but not to do anything like what they promote in this film. For some reason, this type of film that employs numerous jokes about bodily secretions, is positively obsessed with all things anal. Perhaps its just to make audiences uncomfortable but the jokes do nothing to enhance the comedic value of the film. Still, they are ubiquitous and the film seems bent on exploiting them at every turn.

The sex in this film pokes fun at the robotic, unsexy sexual behavior in porn films. They manage to make sex even more ridiculous than it appears when the players are payed to lick, tease, and moan. Everything goes according to plan until Zack and Miri take their turn atop the bags of coffee beans and have a go at one another. Prior to this the sex was to be merely mechanical with no connection between genitals and emotions. Unfortunately for the kids they do feel something much beyond the thrusting and the grunting and it is this that causes great consternation. From this point the film changes from a porno spoof into something much more serious and it doesn’t always work to the film’s advantage. It ceases to be amusing and the entire focus of the film turns to making sure that birds chirp in the sky and the baby sunbeam frolics in the wheat fields with adorable puppies and lambies. In other words it goes terribly soft and all the air gets let out of the blown up condom the fat guy in the corner is about to put on his head. Then it hits you just how effective such machinations can be when you are open to them.

This film is ultimately exceedingly upbeat and delivers a positive message that should bode well for any optimist who hasn’t been encrusted with a hard cynical shell. It works this message throughout the film and despite all the goo it manages to pull off a story that proves to be a balm that heals the damage left behind by too many untoward situations both sexual and platonic. Certainly the second half of the film betrays the common sense approach of the first half but it does manage to create effective scenarios that are beyond merely gross and possess a deeper meaning that is occasionally quite profound. There remains a matter-of-fact approach to many scenes that is refreshing in their immediacy. There is also something indelibly cute about rank amateurs stripping, sucking and fornicating for the sheer joy imbued in the act of performing on camera. There is an innocence here that real pornos as a general rule do not possess. It truly feels like little kids playing dress up only it involves acts that are best suited for grownups.

Truly the best thing in this film is Traci Lords. Her character does the robot dance in her little mock C 3PO golden suit, she blows bubbles from a place that bubbles are not normally blown out of, and she just looks severe and totally hard throughout. She also mans a strap on and gives it to Barry (Ricky Mabe) which is quite an erotic thrill considering who she is and how she is thrust into a position of power, of authority. She also looks like she’s brimming with wisdom and it’s simply brilliant casting to have the world’s greatest underage porn star sit in for this particular film. One wonders if she offered any advice for the porn scenes or if she simply luxuriated in her bad-ass presence and let others take care of the grinding details. Either way, Traci Lords absolutely makes this film and it’s a pity she doesn’t have many more scenes in this.

This film celebrates the good old-fashioned entrepreneurial spirit that proves to be alive and well in America. It shows us how a great idea is actualized as well as all the hell that goes into making it work. There is a scene at the end which is slightly manipulative but ultimately endearing in what it reveals about one of the central characters. It’s a scene between men that isn’t often revealed in the popular media and it works because it is completely sincere. It’s touching without feeling cloying and it’s one of the high points in the film.

The porno itself proves to be somewhat of a release for its performers. Delaney (Robinson) in particular seems to need a distraction from his overbearing wife (Tisha Campbell-Martin) who rides him from day to night. Still, he considers looking at naked bits to be acceptable but he turns down offers to have sex because he is married. He allows himself only so much rope to hang himself and is willing to pay the cost if his wife ever finds out that he’s been purchasing camera equipment and making googly eyes at naked vixens being taking from behind. As the producer it’s his job to examine the attributes of any girl interested in baring in and joining the fray. One gets the impression that Delaney deserves this opportunity even if his wife scalds him with hot lava. He is everyman who exists in a horrific relationship that he is too scared or honorable to back out of.

The film is a bit cheeky at times, a bit randy in others. There aren’t as many gay jokes as there has traditionally been in these films unless you consider Justin Long’s strange turn as Brandon St. Randy as not exactly representative of homosexuality in general. His voice is gravelly, velvety and comes off as almost hypnotic. He’s a bit of a drama queen but not quite. He’s clearly spontaneous, charming, and boisterous when the situation calls for it. He’s from L.A. and is pitted up his boyfriend, local football hero Bobby Long (Routh) who seems to want to tone his slight flamboyancy down a notch. Bobby is less sure of himself as a gay man when he’s among others and Brandon is fully out and as the cliche goes, loving it. The dynamic between the two is riveting especially when the start to turn on each other in front of Zack who considers their spat one of the greatest things he has ever seen.

The performances in this film are all exceptionally good. Seth Rogan looks as incredulous and slightly pissed off as he does in most of his other performances. Zack has this way of appearing irritated and charmingly evasive at the same time. Elizabeth Banks projects a somewhat tattered allure as a woman who gets caught up in a peculiar mess that she didn’t necessarily ask for. Still, Banks plays Miri as a woman who knows how to take advantage of opportunity and she provides her character with a vitality that allows the film to work. Craig Robinson has an infectious aspect to his personality that comes through in every role he takes. There is something incredibly warm about him even when he’s playing a bad ass. He’s simply one of those actors who is infinitely likeable and worth watching do just about anything on screen. Traci Lords as mentioned is simply the stuff of rather twisted, terrifying yet calm dreams that haunt you well into your eighties when you slouch back in your chair and curse the sun. Jason Mewes plays it like he means it and truly gets into his performances as a porn actor. It often seems like he’s done this before and it wouldn’t surprise me if he turned up on a title or two.

Overall, there is a tremendous charm to this film and it sends a message of hope to its audience who might be expecting something else. Indeed, it is a film that deserves its ending and presents its characters in such a way that there really is no other ending that makes sense. The film logically follows an ordered plan of attack and every scene works on what comes before. It does revel in filth but its all for a good cause. There is one particular gross out scene that seems rather over-the-top yet strangely necessary in the end. Ultimately, the kids in this film all seem to be having a grand time in the school yard discovering new toys that they share at will. It’s really a delightful film that engages the audience and leaves them in a state of bliss as long as they can accept the stickiness of the situation.