Susan Granger’s review of “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” (Weinstein Co.)
Although this offensive concept may have seemed far-fetched when independent filmmaker Kevin Smith (“Clerks,” “Chasing Amy”) first brought it to be table, in today’s economic climate, it has timeliness in its favor. Underachievers Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) have been pals since childhood. Now they’re platonic roommates in a crummy Pittsburgh apartment, sharing rejection since the objects of their respective lust seem unattainable. At their 10th high school reunion, schlubby Zack goes after a married former classmate, while Miri humiliates herself over studly Bobby (Brandon “Superman” Routh), a porn star, who’s back from L.A. with his gay lover (Mac spokesman Justin Long). So since they’re both desperate for dough %u2013 their rent’s overdue, their heat and electricity have been shut off – Zack and Miri decide to round up a couple of strippers (skin flick veterans Traci Lords and Katie Morgan) and eager acolytes (Jason Mewes, Craig Robinson) and make their own adult movie, a tawdry parody of “Star Wars” called “Star Whores,” and distribute it on-line. “Porno has gone mainstream, like Coke or Pepsi,” Zack reasons. While this romantic comedy premise is, admittedly, funny, Kevin Smith’s energetic, gross-out execution is exasperating. His raunchy dialogue is filled with foul-mouthed expletives and potty humor, rather than wit. Basically, he’s no Judd Apatow, even when he steals the shock value of full frontal male nudity directly from “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.” On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” is a crude, farcical 5. It’s a lust cause – yet I must confess a certain amount of amusement when I realized that Elizabeth Banks was also playing Laura Bush in Oliver Stone’s “W” on an adjoining screen in the multiplex. Now that’s versatility!
