Reviewed By: Liam Cullin

Rating: 8/10

Writer-director Kevin Smith's "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" stars Seth Rogen as Zack Brown and Elizabeth Banks as Miri "Stinky" Linky. The movie opens with Zack and Miri living a poor but not necessarily miserable existence in the Pittsburgh suburb of Monroeville. Zack and Miri have known each other since grade school but have never moved their relationship to the "next level". They're simply happy to live together -- no sex, no complications. Their only complication is that they are broke.

It's Thanksgiving weekend and their high school is throwing a 20th reunion. (Since everybody is going to be in town for the holiday anyways, what better time?) Miri's sole purpose in going to the reunion is to hook up with Bobby Long (Brandon Routh) who gave her the "Stinky" nickname so many years ago. Meanwhile, Zack is content to stay back and watch the goings on. It's at this point that Zack meets Brandon (Justin Long). They get to talking and Brandon reveals that he's a gay porn star and he's attending the reunion "with" Bobby Long. Meanwhile, Miri is trying to seduce Bobby in hopes that sleeping with him will provide some type of revenge. (Don't ask me how that works. I don't understand women either.) Anyways, Zack takes this opportunity to introduce Miri to Bobby's boyfriend followed by a few minutes worth of gay porn humor.

The next day, Zack and Miri's lives are disrupted when their electricity and water are cut off due to their failure to pay the bills. With the previous night's encounter with Brandon fresh on his mind, Zack comes up with the brilliant idea of making a porno starring himself and Miri. Then they can distribute the film to their graduating class as a means of raising some quick cash. After all, who wouldn't want to watch them have sex? Afer some initial trepidation, Miri agrees. So, Zack and Miri make a porno. But can their recipe of "friendship without sex" survive once "sex" is added to the mix. What follows is a sweet romantic comedy -- that just happens to involve porn.

The movie also stars Craig Robinson as one of Zack's co-workers who doubles as one of the film's producers, Jason Mewes as Lester who is cast to play a role in the porno, Jeff Anderson as Deacon, the camera operator, Traci Lords as Bubbles, who is cast for one of her extraordinary talents, and finally Katie Morgan who plays a stripper-turned-actress who doesn't mind doing anal.

Fans of Kevin Smith know that the guy makes two types of movies. There are the "Jay and Silent Bob" type movies and the "other" movies (ie. "Jersey Girl" and "Chasing Amy" -- and for Smith purists, I'm aware the Jay and Silent Bob appeared in "Chasing Amy" but it wasn't "their" movie). If you've read anything about "Zack and Miri" you're likely aware that this is NOT a Jay and Silent Bob movie. Instead, it takes place in the filmmaker's alternate "Askewniverse" with Smith trying his hand at the romantic comedy. And, as a romantic comedy, it's probably one of the better ones I've seen in the last few years, if only for the fact that it is so atypical. At it's heart, the movie tells the story of a couple of friends who, when difficult times call for difficult measures, discover love. So what if the wheel of love is greased with a little anal lube.

Benefiting the movie are heartfelt performances by Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks. When the time comes to actually do the deed on film, these two deliver the goods. And I don't mean the "porn" goods. Instead, I was left believing that Zack and Miri were genuinely in love.

I'm not going to say that the movie didn't have it's faults. Porn is fine in the context of the story, but I felt the movie crossed the line with the "shit" joke. Although it got the biggest laugh in the whole movie, it was unnecessary. At least in this particular Kevin Smith film. Sex jokes good. Potty jokes bad.

The bottom line is that that, in teaming with Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks, Kevin Smith has delivered a hit with "Zack and Miri Make a Porno". Although the film will likely be hindered by those uneducated enough to shy away from the movie based simply on the title, I believe the movie will earn enough money to be considered a success and will likely be Smith's highest grossing project to date. We can really only hope that this success doesn't mean Smith won't someday return to the "Jay and Silent Bob" Askewniverse that fans have come to know and love.