Column:

Kevin Smith makes his most romantic 'Porno' yet

By Joey Vergara

Published Nov. 6, 2008

Kevin Smith has pulled off the near impossible with "Zack and Miri Make a Porno." Taking his filthy, curse-ridden, cock-and-balls humor to new heights (read: lows), he produced his sweetest, most romantic film.

In terms of plotting, it is one of Smith's simplest: no poop monsters or lesbian girlfriends. Zack and Miri make a porno, and they fall in love along the way. Still, that's easier said than done.

After falling behind on their bills, the two lifelong friends opt to do what any regular Joes would do, gather a few friends and film some doggy-style. Production problems plague them throughout, but most importantly, their hearts get in the way and complicate their relationship after they finally have sex.

Although that sounds predictable enough (it is), Smith's dialogue and characterization more than make up for it and create a nuanced film - about making a porno. It's a familiar tale, old friends finally falling in love, but one taken to an extreme.

If you look close enough though, Smith has always been a closet romantic. He might hide it behind dick jokes, but his sense of romance seems far more realistic than that of a lot of other serious filmmakers. It just takes a great comedic writer to capture the occasional insanity and dirtiness of true love and true life.

My best friend's dad once deemed Seth Rogen "the ugliest man in America." What's amazing is though this might be true, he's still got his ugly mug all over the place, and for good reason. Rogen's Zack isn't much of a stretch for him - the charming, overweight buffoon who really means well. He's played the type in "Knocked Up" and "Pineapple Express" to just as much success. Still, ugly face or not, the man also has the best comedic delivery in the country.

Though far prettier than Rogen's, Elizabeth Banks' face is just as common these days. She appeared in two trailers that played before "Porno," but again, she deserves it. Miri is tough enough to hang with a boy like Zack, but awkward and desperate to find something permanent. Banks, coming a long way from the sex-crazed maniac in "The 40-Year Old Virgin," provides the sweet-natured counterpoint to Rogen.

The comedic goldmine of "Zack and Miri," and probably most Kevin Smith films, is the supporting cast. Collected from the Judd Apatow gang (Craig Robinson), the Smith regulars (Jason "Jay" Mewes) and actual porn stars (Traci Lords, Katie Morgan), this group adds a multi-layered touch to a film about making something that is much more blunt on the surface level - porn.

Robinson's (Daryll from "The Office") freak-outs include money, his wife's saggy breasts and dog porn, and Morgan's final sex scene with Mewes will go down in history as Smith's most disgusting.

That said, in his outlandish way, Smith makes romance more realistic and sex less taboo than they sometimes seem in real life by upping the gross factor. It seems implausible, but no other film with nearly as many penises and boobs will leave such a warm feeling in your heart than "Zack and Miri."