Movie Review: Zack and Miri Make A Porno (2008)

A romantic comedy that is not nearly as clever or funny as it thinks it is.

Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) are platonic friends and roommates in Pittsburgh. They are also both very broke. They decide to make some money by producing and starring in a porn movie and then selling it to their former classmates. They first attempt to produce a Star Wars themed porn movie, but settle for a typical sex-escapades-in-a-diner flick. Soon enough, the threat of sex with others pushes Zack and Miri to realize that they are more than just roommates.

In 2007 and 2008, Seth Rogen was involved in 15 different projects. He may want to consider placing more emphasis on quality over quantity. Zack And Miri Make A Porno offers up a most convoluted premise for the well-trodden narrative of two people finding out that they care about each other more than they would like to admit.

Written and Directed by Kevin Smith, the script is what a tired and poorly-programmed computer would generate when asked for a story combining "romantic comedy" with "porn movie". The production has a rushed student project quality to it, and we never get to find out why Zack and Miri are so financially broke when they are so clearly creative in coming up with their porno project, and persuasive in convincing all sorts of people join them on their film-making adventure.

Rogen goes through the movie looking for the next one-liner. Elizabeth Banks provides a bit more depth, but has limited material to work with, and none that is original. The secondary characters are all graduates of the school of stereotypes, and few industries contain worse stereotypes than the world of porn movies.

If the porno that Zack and Miri made was as limp as this movie, their financial troubles would be far from over.

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