By Matt Braddick
I want to start by addressing the people out there who haven’t made up their mind about Kevin Smith. If you’re torn on his work, if you fell in love with his masterworks like “Chasing Amy,” or “Dogma,” but the foolish fare of his less spectacular pieces like “Clerks 2” left a bad taste in your mouth, I really think you should head out to the theater tonight and see “Zach and Miri Make a Porno.” This film is a welcome return to form for Smith, and its carefree attitude and brash style holds your attention and shakes it firmly, jolting you with jokes and gags galore.
One of the keys to Smith’s success has always been sticking with stories and people he’s familiar with and knows how to display, and “Zach and Miri” is no different. It’s just another notch on the belt of a fine and unique American filmmaker. The title really tells you about all you need to know about the plot. Two friends, who have known each other since grade school, are having trouble paying the bills, and in their desperation they decide the quick fix might just be to piece together an indie pornography film with friends.
To some that might sound like a less than ‘plausible’ real world scenario, but who are they to judge? For some people, shooting video of themselves having sex has proven to be a very lucrative business, so what makes this so unrealistic? If anything, this film’s premise feels all the more relevant, as we watch our country’s economy cough and sneeze its way through this persistent flu that plagues our prosperity. Zach (the irreplaceable Seth Rogen) and Miriam (an enchanting Elizabeth Banks) are slackers in their own right who feel that money is better spent on alcohol and sex toys than on utility bills. Making a porno film to make easy money is right up their alley. Anyone who still would have doubts about the plausibility of such a feat need look no further than Smith’s own career, which was launched on the heels of the super-low budget “Clerks,” one of his finest works.
It’s not just the subject matter that some might find crude; characteristic of Kevin Smith’s writing, this script is jammed full of every tasteless joke you can imagine. Watching “Zach and Miri” showed me this real reason to appreciate Smith the troublemaker. He works inside the same “toilet humor” world, but always manages to excite, engage and exacerbate with the most outrageous gags and lines. He uses the same formula time after time, yet I can’t help but admire how each time the jokes reach a new level of insanity. Each time his film comes back around, some ridiculous, unbelievable, gross-out joke worms its way onto the screen, but each time it’s a new, fresh idea that incites riotous laughter.
What I enjoy most about Kevin Smith films is how every time I see his films at the theater, the entire audience is rapt with unstoppable laughter. It never fails that you hear quiet, subdued exclamations of “Oh my god!” or “No way!” The audience is always different, containing many demographics that don’t include Smith’s usual target audience (young, nerdy, comic-loving teens). When these audiences come for his films, it almost feels like a family reunion of sorts, where everyone’s so joyous about getting back together again for a unique and infrequent experience.
“Zach and Miri” may not be literature, but it definitely has a sense of literacy when it comes to basic comedy. I imagine the crew had an incredible amount of fun making this movie; you can see it in their faces from scene to scene. Enjoy the laughs while they last, for Oscars season is just around the corner and it’ll be all straight faces until February.
FYI: If nudity doesn’t do much for your delicate sensibilities, I suggest you stay away from “Zach and Miri.” Also, watch for “Live Free Die Hard’s” Justin Long in a scene-stealing performance as a gay porn star.