Ryan McNeil
Friday afternoon I welcomed director Guy Ritchie back to the age of jive – tonight I felt like extending the same welcome to director Kevin Smith. He of New Jersey birth and Degrassi obsession has been a tad lost for the last little while in my opinion – and I’m a fan! However, I’m happy to report that with ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO, Smith has made his best film in almost ten years.
You’ll forgive me if I skip out on explaining the plot – title pretty much speaks for itself, wouldn’t you say?
Part of what makes Z&M work so well is an infusion of new blood into Smith’s band of merry men. Nothing against names like Damon, Affleck, Lee, etc … but by straying over towards Judd Apatow’s talent pool, Smith was able to give his lowball humour (primarily dick & fart jokes) fresh legs. Beyond the two talented leads – Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks – supporting players like Justin Long, Brandon Routh, Craig Robinson take Smith’s broad strokes and infuse it with expression and spontaneity. It all works to create Smith’s funniest movie to date – so much so that it could have been titled “How Kevin Got His Groove Back”.
So, the obvious question is considering that it’s a movie about making a porno flick, just how dirty is it? (Keeping in mind that the first rating the MPAA gave the film was the dreaded NC-17). On a scale from Jonas-Brothers-wholesome to Jenna-Jameson-nasty, lets say that it leans towards the latter. I wouldn’t say that any of it’s humour or content is truly offensive or exploitive, but I certainly don’t think this movie is for kids.
Grown-ups though, will laugh themselves stupid.
ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO plays once more at TIFF 08, and will be released by The Weinstein Co. in late October. It’s funny – go see it.
The Judd Apatow clan is everywhere and can’t seem to do any wrong. This movie sounds hilarious and I can’t wait to see it.
Hey, Rye. I'm still kicking around reading all your posts, even though I'm not responding to them all. I'm so glad you're having a good time! Great photos you've taken, too, btw. Post more, if you can!!!!
We had an awesome time at Great Wolf Lodge. You could shoot a canon through it on Thursday and my legs ached from traveling up all those stairs instead of waiting in line two flights down. Who cares, right? Tatum was tall enough to go on all the rides, and since it wasn't busy we let her go around with K & T while we sat in the adult hot tub! Nice.
Keep posting and I'll keep reading, even though you might not hear from me. Take care!