“Zack and Miri Make a Porno” 2-Disc DVD Review
Kevin Smith has never been one to play by the MPAA’s rules, but when he announced that his new movie was going to actually have “porno” in the title, I’m sure more than a few reared their heads and wondered what was up. The film itself had a hell of a fight to get an R rating and, once again, Smith has pushed the limits in just what the R rating can contain. Yet through all of this the film itself received only fair critical appeal and a moderate box office intake (more than enough to recoup its budget, however, so that plus DVD sales will undoubtedly still make this one profitable) and a bit of a split in the Smith camp as to just how enjoyable this film really was.
Get ready for the wild comedy that goes where no movie has dared go before! Seth Rogen (Pineapple Express) and Elizabeth Banks (Role Models) star as two cash-strapped roommates who try to get out of debt by making an adult film. Once the cameras start rolling, things quickly get complicated…and hilarious! Writer/Director Kevin Smith is at his funniest, backed by a motley cast, including Craig Robinson (“The Office”), Jason Mewes (Clerks films), Justin Long (Live Free or Die Hard), and Brandon Routh (Superman Returns). Critics promise, “If you liked The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and Superbad, you’ll love Zack and Miri” (Shawn Edwards, Fox-TV).
I’m a self-proclaimed Kevin Smith fan and own all of his films (aside from Jersey Girl, and that’s not even because I didn’t like it but more just because I never got around to buying it), so I was pretty psyched for this one. On top of that he seemed to borrow some of the more entertaining actors and tossed them into his usual actor conglomerate. Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks felt odd at first, simply because they didn’t make for what felt like a Smith movie, but rather what felt like an Apatow one. Just look at the cast in this film and then at what critics had to say about this one: barring some incredibly fowl jokes and one incredibly rank visual gang, this could have easily fit into the Apatow stable of comedies.
In fact, the more I think about this film, the less it actually feels like a Smith vehicle; there’s more of a love story here and what feels like a lot smaller selection of scenes that are simply just talking. It’s an interesting outing and honestly it feels more like Jersey Girl with amped up vulgarity than anything, which, again, isn’t a bad thing (to me anyway). I didn’t really know what to think after watching this film for the first time, as I really didn’t get out of it what I expected.
Granted I laughed my ass off, but it’s undeniable that this film didn’t feel entirely Smith-ian. Again, not a terrible thing to compare this to an Apatow production as the majority of those I’ve recommended anyway, so my complaints about this film thus far aren’t even objecting to its quality or storytelling, as I found it all to be entertaining; my complaints are stemming from a Smith-fan point of view only.
Having said all of that…I find myself not caring that it’s not like Clerks or Chasing Amy. I haven’t enjoyed all of Smith’s films (I honestly thought Mall Rats was pretty stupid), so it’s not like I’m a fan filled with blind love for everything he’s done, so changing it up isn’t exactly a negative element for me.
I will say that there were plenty of things to enjoy this film, however; the Justin Long and Brandon Routh pieces especially (thank God there was more with them in the deleted scenes) were flat out hilarious and the majority of the film was just fun to watch regardless of what obscene thing was happening on screen. It was littered with clichés but nothing that would really detract ones enjoyment of the film. Honestly when I think of the quote by Shawn Edwards on the back of the box, I’d have to agree with what he said, only with a bit more detail added: if you enjoyed the love story aspect of Knocked Up and laughed at the gross-out humor in Superbad, then Zack and Miri is straight up your alley.
If there was any area in which the film faltered any it would be the story telling, as it is a sometimes uneven mixture of pure gross-out humor with a dash of love story thrown in, while the rest of the film is the complete opposite. Again, it’s funny enough to watch regardless that the pacing and telling of it isn’t exactly something to get too angered over. Although I will say after being visually impressed by a lot of films lately, whether they’re action films or comedies, that I find Smith’s directing and cinematography to be shockingly basic; but then again, that’s how he’s always made his films, so I guess this film stood out more in the “wow, that was a bit generic in how it was set up” department since it was a bit more than your usual stand-around-and-talk piece.
In any case, I’m sure by now I’m just rambling. When it comes down to it, Zack and Miri is dirty, nasty, touching and funny as hell. And that’s all that matters. Recommended.
The DVD
Holy crap are there a lot of extras here. I guess I should have expected it by this point, but man…Smith really shoots a lot of material. Before we tackle the extras, however, we have the set itself to take a look at, which arrives in a standard two-disc amaray case without any inserts and plain disc art (White! Wow. Exhilarating.). A cardboard o-ring is included, but seems completely pointless as it’s not even embossed or anything. One nice thing, however, is that there is only a two-disc edition of this film (as well as the Blu-ray) so there’s no big load of single rated, single unrated, etc. releases that so many other companies seem so fond of. Menus for both discs are simple and easy to navigate.
Video for the film is actually kind of disappointing; I don’t know what it is about this film, but it looks incredibly soft and hazy at times, as if it were in some kind of dream state. It’s not a huge issue as everything and everyone is clear enough to not make for an aggravating experience, but overall it’s just kind of a dull looking transfer. The included DD5.1 mix is what you’d expect from a dialogue driven film, with plenty of front channel activity and limited surround (except during the reunion and some of the porno scenes). Also included is a French DD5.1 track as well as Spanish and English subtitles.
Moving onto the extras we have a huge amount of Deleted Scenes (1:34:46) on the first disc which are all very much worth watching. It’s almost another move until itself here and I actually did a double take when I saw the runtime of the “play all” option. Plenty of hilarious scenes were cut here, including an extended “Dutch Rudder” and more with Justin Long and Brandon Routh’s characters.
Onto disc two we have Popcorn Porn: The Making Of (1:14:44), a very thorough and in-depth making of the film which takes the place of the lack of commentary. Between the making-of and the Money Shots: Webisodes (47:43), you get a pretty clear picture of the film’s production, so a commentary would probably have just been extreme overkill. Also included is a Comic Con 2008 (23:08) panel segment, a series of Gang Bang: Ad-Libs and Bloopers (12:59), and finally Seth vs. Justin (7:24). Oddly enough the DVD menu lists the “Seth vs. Justin” segment as part 1, yet try as I might I can’t find a part 2, so I’ve no idea where the hell the other one is, if there’s even supposed to be one.
Overall this is an incredibly packed release and one that’s Highly Recommended. Granted if you didn’t like the film then you won’t really want to watch four hours worth of extras, but if you did then it’ll be hard to pass this one up.
Zack and Miri Make a Porno arrives on DVD and Blu-ray on February 3rd.