Rogen and Banks make another hit comedy
Tyler George
Issue date: 11/6/08 Section: TruLife
Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks are featured in the new romantic comedy, "Zack and Miri Make a Porno." The film, released on Halloween, is the latest work of director Kevin Smith, who directed other great comedies like "Clerks," "Dogma" and "Mallrats" and also has made appearances as Silent Bob in most of his projects.
Zack (Rogen) and Miri (Banks) have known each other since first grade and are friends - nothing more, nothing less - who share an apartment. Zack works at the local coffee shop, Bean-n-Go, Miri works in the mall and they split the bills for their apartment. Because of excessive Web surfing, Zack soon gets caught between paying utility bills and buying adult novelty items. When the going gets tough, he suggests that he and Miri make an adult film in order to keep up with their bills - not to mention the huge amount of debt that they've landed themselves in. Zack and Miri recruit Lester (Jason Mewes) and Delaney (Craig Robinson), among others, to assist them with this task.
As the audience, we all know that this cliché just-friends setup always will result in the two ending up together. However, despite the typical plotline, Zack and Miri kept me guessing the whole time and made me realize that although you might know what's going to happen in the end, you never really know how they are going to end up there. The movie contains plot turns that make it more than just your same-old romantic comedy.
Although the movie is labeled a romantic comedy, the classification might be a bit misleading. Romantic comedies often are seen as ideal movies for a first date, but this is not a movie I would take a girl to on a fifth date, let alone the first. This is a movie people should see with close friends or a girl/boyfriend who has been around long enough that it wouldn't be uncomfortable. What's uncomfortable? Think about watching "Superbad" with your parents or seeing "Borat" on a first date with a girl who is almost a stranger. In order to avoid such an awkward situation, approach the label "romantic comedy" with caution. The movie was rated NC-17 before it was put up for MPAA review and then received a very deserved R. It contains everything from nonstop profanity to full nudity of both sexes. The movie is about Rogen's character making a pornography flick. Connect the dots.
To put the movie into perspective, it was cruder than "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," but still had that movie's romantic appeal that was absent in Rogen's 2007 appearance in "Superbad." Go to this movie prepared for a little less vulgarity than "Superbad" with romance in mind.
The acting in Zack and Miri is great. Rogen pulls off yet another gut-busting comedy. The combination of director Smith and actors Rogen and Banks is golden. Also, I was blown away by the performance of Robinson. He certainly surprised me as he stole the show with his one-line zingers and awkward monologues.
The soundtrack to this movie was the perfect complement to the story and the perfect genre and style of music to couple with the characters in the film.
"Zack and Miri Make a Porno" is hilarious, maybe even the romantic comedy of the year.
Zack (Rogen) and Miri (Banks) have known each other since first grade and are friends - nothing more, nothing less - who share an apartment. Zack works at the local coffee shop, Bean-n-Go, Miri works in the mall and they split the bills for their apartment. Because of excessive Web surfing, Zack soon gets caught between paying utility bills and buying adult novelty items. When the going gets tough, he suggests that he and Miri make an adult film in order to keep up with their bills - not to mention the huge amount of debt that they've landed themselves in. Zack and Miri recruit Lester (Jason Mewes) and Delaney (Craig Robinson), among others, to assist them with this task.
As the audience, we all know that this cliché just-friends setup always will result in the two ending up together. However, despite the typical plotline, Zack and Miri kept me guessing the whole time and made me realize that although you might know what's going to happen in the end, you never really know how they are going to end up there. The movie contains plot turns that make it more than just your same-old romantic comedy.
Although the movie is labeled a romantic comedy, the classification might be a bit misleading. Romantic comedies often are seen as ideal movies for a first date, but this is not a movie I would take a girl to on a fifth date, let alone the first. This is a movie people should see with close friends or a girl/boyfriend who has been around long enough that it wouldn't be uncomfortable. What's uncomfortable? Think about watching "Superbad" with your parents or seeing "Borat" on a first date with a girl who is almost a stranger. In order to avoid such an awkward situation, approach the label "romantic comedy" with caution. The movie was rated NC-17 before it was put up for MPAA review and then received a very deserved R. It contains everything from nonstop profanity to full nudity of both sexes. The movie is about Rogen's character making a pornography flick. Connect the dots.
To put the movie into perspective, it was cruder than "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," but still had that movie's romantic appeal that was absent in Rogen's 2007 appearance in "Superbad." Go to this movie prepared for a little less vulgarity than "Superbad" with romance in mind.
The acting in Zack and Miri is great. Rogen pulls off yet another gut-busting comedy. The combination of director Smith and actors Rogen and Banks is golden. Also, I was blown away by the performance of Robinson. He certainly surprised me as he stole the show with his one-line zingers and awkward monologues.
The soundtrack to this movie was the perfect complement to the story and the perfect genre and style of music to couple with the characters in the film.
"Zack and Miri Make a Porno" is hilarious, maybe even the romantic comedy of the year.
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