The most overated "comedy" film of 2008 (Zack And Miri Make A Porno (DVD))

Member Name: yackers1

Product:	Zack And Miri Make A Porno (DVD)
Date:	04/02/09 (367 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It's marginally better than watching paint dry

Disadvantages: This film had so much potential but the producers did not capitalise on it

Directed by Kevin Smith and released in November 2008 Zack and Miri Make A Porno was hyped up to be one of the funniest films of 2008.

****Story Line****

Zack Brown (Seth Rogan) and Miri Linky (Elizabeth Banks) are old school friends that now share an apartment. Neither of them has really amounted to anything and they struggle their way through life, both financially and emotionally.

Times are particularly hard and Zack and Miri get behind with the bills leading to their water and their electricity being cut.

At a school reunion Zack manages to get speaking to a lover of an old school chum, who turns out to be a porn star. The discussion gets Zack thinking and the decision is made to make a porno to pay off the bills.

The plan is put in to action. The photographer is sorted out, the script is written, the actors are cast and the set is sorted, however nothing ever goes smoothly and the first day of the shoot problems are encountered that look like the whole project may be ruined.

Luckily Zack has an alternative plan and the cameras start to roll.

****Actors****

Whilst this film is centred around Seth Rogan and Elizabeth Banks there are other actors that have quite a substantial part in this film including:

i) Jason Mews - Lester
ii) Gerry Bednob - Mr Surya
iii) Anne Wade - Roxanne
iv) Jeff Anderson - Deacon
v) Tom Savini - Jenkins
vi) Craig Robinson - Delaney
vii) Traci Lords - Bubbles

There are also many other smaller parts including strippers and auditioners.

Before watching this film I had only ever seen one of the other actors before so I did not really know anything about them, or their acting abilities. None of the actors gave memorable performances, in fact I thought that most of them were pretty useless.

****Warning****

This film has an 18 certificate and contains extremely obscene language and strong sexual references. There is some nudity in that there are naked breasts and backsides, so if you are offended by either of these then this film is not for you.

****Opinion****

I have read loads of reviews about this film and they all seemed to suggest that this film was funny but it does not live up to the hype. Consequently, I wasn't expecting too much but I was expecting some laugh out loud moments. Unfortunately I didn't find any.

I was extremely disappointed with this film and wasted 102 minutes of my life watching it. There were some bits that made me crack a smile, although these were very few and far between, and there were bits that made me laugh for a second, although I could count these on one hand.

For me the funniest bit was right near the start of the film when Zack and Miri were at the school reunion enjoying watching a lovers tiff. On reflection though, even this was not actually that funny but it was mildly amusing at the time.

I thought Seth Rogan was great in Knocked Up and after watching that film I couldn't wait to see other films that he has starred in. However, the more and more I see of Seth Rogan the more I realize that he is not really that good. In all films he plays the same style of character, i.e. the slacker (and stoner in most of them) that can't be bothered to do anything in life. There appears to be no versatility to him.

It wasn't only Seth Rogan that was poor, I thought all the cast were poor. There is usually at least one actor that stands out and makes you think 'wow' but this was not the case in this film.

I think the concept of this film is great and there is so much that could have been done with it. There are so many innuendos that could have been incorporated, but these were omitted, which led to poor execution in my opinion.

I am no real film buff and I am the first to admit that when it comes to the conclusion of films I am absolutely useless at predicting the ending and I am usually way off the mark. However, in this case even I got it right hence demonstrating how predictable this film is. There are no 'twists' or 'turns' during the film and it flows predictably from start to finish, which is a bit boring.

As with all Seth Rogan films the language in this film is extreme and, I think that there is over use of the F word. I appreciate that swearing is emotive and can enhance films but this is not the case in this film. There is far too much and it really is unnecessary.

I can remember when this film was showing in the cinema there were "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" adverts plastered all over buses around Norwich. Whilst I thought it was a bit wrong, I mean what do parents say when their young children ask "what's a porno?", I did not appreciate that the film carried an 18 certificate. Whilst I am no prude I do question society when 18 certificate films are being advertised in such a way.

I really enjoy schoolboy humour and find sexual innuendos funny but this film did absolutely nothing for me and it is not one that I would recommend. It is worth 1.5 stars at best.

****Other****

Run time - 101 minutes
Certificate - 18

Summary: Time is precious and I wasted one and a half hours of my life watching this