Does anyone watch regular porn anymore? OK, “regular” is rather a nebulous term when it comes to porn—what I mean to say is, is there anyone left who watches porn involving actors and concepts and...well, anything involving anything other than fucking? Maybe I’m speaking just for myself, but I find it hard anymore to get off on (I’m talking about cuming) anything that isn’t amateur. If I can sense even the slightest hint of performance, of inauthenticity, the mood is immediately killed. Narrative porn involving paid performers is about as thrilling as watching roofers perform their task. I’m just watching people earn paychecks.
For those who haven’t already been turned off by this discussion of my porn habits, there is a point here, however elusive. You see, while watching Kevin Smith’s vulgar Zack and Miri Make a Porno, I was taken aback by how quaint the whole affair seemed. Smith’s dirtiest film is actually quite old-fashioned, really: a throwback to those days before pornhub, when a few shit-broke people could scrape some money together, hire a small film crew and produce a hastily written porn script knowing full well they’d get at least a modest return on investment. You know, the days before assholes like me refused to pay to watch this kind of stuff.
Oh those were the days—for the porn industry. But now that the digital world has laid siege to the music and film industry, is it really any surprise that porn now finds itself in a similarly precarious position? Now that everyone is giving better shit away for free, who wants to pay for the old-fashioned stuff? [ed. Note: enough with the questions, Dave.]
But first, about the plot of Smith’s film: Zack and Miri, two lifelong platonic friends, now roommates, are down on their luck. They’re poor and getting broker. Also, thanks to unpaid bills, increasingly utility free. After a couple of kids surreptitiously film Miri in her granny panties, turning her into a viral sensation, Zack and Miri decide to cash in on her newfound internet fame by starring in their own porn. She’s more than famous enough to get people to cough up twenty bucks a pop to watch her fuck. They just need a hook for the film, a concept, a few actors and a crew. And then it’s easy street. Also, their long suppressed feelings for each other bubble over when they film their fuck scene.
As I said, Zack and Miri is a paean to the halcyon days of porn yore; it is also a loving ode to Kevin Smith’s past—whose work, as I’ve said before, I am generally not a fan of. So you’ll find it surprising I actually quite enjoyed this film. You’ll find it doubly surprising that I enjoyed it not in spite of but because of its nostalgia-for-Kevin-Smith’s-past wankery. You see, even though I may not happen to care for Smith’s films, I get inspired by anyone who, despite a lack of resources or professional backing, forges ahead and makes his own damn film anyway. And Zack and Miri’s attempt to helm a low-budget porn is a thinly-veiled retelling of Smith’s own attempts to make his breakthrough film Clerks.
Sure, there were more than enough Smith touchstones in Zack and Miri to get my eyes rolling (enough with the Star Wars shit!), but overall I smiled, I laughed, I...dangnabit, I got choked up more than I scoffed. No minor accomplishment that.
Dave's Rating:
5 comments:
Good review Dave. Not my favorite flick from Smith, but definitely one of his funnier ones as of late, even if it is mainly because of the charming cast he so obviously stole from Judd Apatow.
Great review! This is one of my favorite movies by Smith - it's so funny and charming and Banks and Rogen had very authentic chemistry here.
This sounds like a unique, funny film. I'll add it to my watchlist and give it a go.
Zack & Miri is really funny and you can watch it over and over without getting tired of it. Never made the connection about the parallels between the plot of this and Smith making Clerks but that definitely makes sense. One of my favorite parts of this movie is easily Justin Long's cameo at the reunion.
Oh yeah, Justin Long is hilarious in this movie.
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