And a Dutch Rudder is......? (Zack And Miri Make A Porno (DVD))

Member Name: pmcds

Product:	Zack And Miri Make A Porno (DVD)
Date:	26/01/09 (71 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Hilarious

Disadvantages: Could offend

When you're Seth Rogen, and you're celebrating off the back of the success of a number of films you've been in, but you're unsure of which direction to go in as you don't want to give your audience overkill, then what better idea than starring in the latest film from Kevin Smith, Silent Bob himself, director of classic cult films such as Clerks, Mallrats and Dogma. Not too long ago, I watched Pineapple Express, and while I appreciated the ease with which this film could offend, I found it hilarious, so when I spotted the title of this film, and saw the cast and crew involved, I jumped in with both feet, leaving all forms of political correctness at the door.

Zack and Miri Make A Porno is quite possibly the most twisted RomCom ever made, and, interestingly enough, it is easily classified as such a film, although I am sure many RomCom fans would shudder at the thought of this film fluttering among such tear-jerking films as Never Been Kissed or Bridget Jones' Diary. However, if you take away the porn, the political incorrectness, and the downright insulting scenes, you would be left with a typical romantic comedy plot, albeit a very short one!

Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) are best friends, and have been since school. They live together, but each month find themselves falling short of paying the rent and bills for their mediochre appartment. To start with, all seems rather normal in romcom land with this plot, until the advent of the school reunion, where Rogen-style comedy mixes with Kevin Smith-style comedy, and we have the beginnings of hilarity. We meet high school jock and stud Bobby Long (an excellently embarrassed Brandon Routh) and his gay porn star boyfriend Brandon St Randy (an completely unembarrassed and sheer brilliant Justin Long), who, along with an unfortunate clip on the internet of Miri wearing 'granny panties', give Zack an idea for making money: a porn video.

Following much debate on the subject, the two of them finally agree that if they have sex and make a film out of it, with other stars in it, they will make a lot of money, and it won't change their friendship................yeah...........right!

They manage to assemble a motley crew in front of and behind the camera, and the small porn troop of 7 or 8 of them start proceedings in hilarious fashion. And this is where Kevin Smith's brilliance comes in. His ever-trusty sidekick, Jason Mewes, has appeared in all of his films to date, and this was one there was no way he was going to be left out of. Mewes is perhaps better known as 'Jay' in the movies featuring Jay and Silent Bob (with Smith being Bob), and here, the extrovert Mewes completely take on the role of porn star (and bad actor) Lester with a fervent passion that had me in stitches.

But it didn't stop there. Any of you who may have read my reviews of Superbad or Pineapple Express, I beg your forgiveness if I sound a little repetitive, but for some reason, this style of comedy attracts a great collection of stars and makes me laugh with its outrageous plot types and complete disregard for political correctness. Neither does it seem to care who it offends, yet this is something which is clear from the style of film, and anyone who does take offence has taken it in the wrong context - although I can see how this is possible, clearly.

Rogen brings along one of his co-stars from Pineapple Express, the black hit man Matheson, or rather, actor Craig Robinson, to play Zack's best friend Delaney. The two of them work at a coffee shop which becomes the set for the porno, and Delaney becomes the movie's producer. Robinson is probably best known as Darryl Philbin from the US series of The Office, and is established as a strong comedy actor. Jeff Anderson, a favourite actor of Kevin Smith's who has been in many of his films, brings the Smith technique to the front of the camera as porn director Deacon, and Ricky Mabe plays small time porn 'bitch' Barry.

The clever casting comes with the inclusion of not just Katie Morgan, one of the most sought after porn actresses at the moment, as Stacey, one of the stars of Zack and Miri's porno; but also the famous Traci Lords, involved with the porn industry controversially as much as not, for decades now. These clever inclusions will no doubt be noticed by some even without an IMDB cast list to aid them, but they are clever casting indeed.

But the real stars of the show are undoubtedly its leads. Rogen and Banks' on screen relationship develops very well as the two friends struggle to keep their real feelings for each other under cover, as their big love, sorry, sex scene approaches. The relationship is the main intended plot in terms of storyline, but a great deal of the film is spent with the discussion, filming and acting of the porn film itself, which I imagined would make me feel a little uncomfortable, but left me in stitches.

So, this film is another one I thought was great, but as with all films featuring Rogen or directed by Smith, you have to take a certain amount of care with whether you will or won't be easily offended by certain things, even if they are done in jest and more to make a mockery of the existence of such things as opposed to provoking them. Naturally, sex is one of the biggest things that is treated with casual and frank discussion and filming, as is racism, language, nudity, politics in general, and any other way of being politically incorrect you can think of. In terms of swearing, the 'f' word is frequent, and the 'c' word is used a few times as well. There is full frontal nudity of both sexes, as well, in case this would offend.

But my intention here is not to dissuade. The chances are that if you do not want to watch this sort of film, you probably aren't likely to read this! So, the good points must be focused upon. This film, around the 1 hour and 40 minutes mark, is highly entertaining, and will likely make you laugh out loud. Smith and Rogen seem to be a very excellent combination, and my interest and keenness to watch this genre of 'alternative' 'frat pack' romantic comedy seems to only grow and grow with each film I watch. The recently released 'Role Models' is likely to be my next target for 'stupid' adult comedy, but for the moment, I'll wallow in the pool of Zack and Miri as I sit here ominously chuckling to myself in strange solitude. A cracking film!

Summary: Another gem from Kevin Smith, another gem from Seth Rogen