Zack and Miri make a porno

When watching Zack and Miri Make a Porno, it's difficult to get past the film's more pornographic qualities. It's not as if director Kevin Smith is known for his sense of decorum, but his latest release achieves staggering levels of obscenity.

Zack and Miri comes more than 10 years after Smith's masterpiece Chasing Amy and marks his return to the romantic comedy (let's try to forget Jersey Girl). The film tells of longtime platonic best friends Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) who have fallen on tough times. To alleviate their financial straits, as the title suggests, the characters decide to make a porno.

As the love story of beauty and beast, it's hard to avoid comparisons to Judd Apatow. But we have to remember that the likes of Kevin Smith paved the way for Apatow and his band of merry fools like Rogen. And this is what makes Zack and Miri so disappointing.

Rather than a unique movie straight out of his Askewniverse, Zack and Miri is derivative. Sure, Banks and Rogen have great chemistry and deliver in their respective roles, but the rest of the cast is two-dimensional. Smith's writing sells the supporting cast short. Even Smith-staple Jason Mewes, breaking from his normal role as the speaking half of Jay and Silent Bob, fails to add much to the film.

Zack and Miri wants to be as good as Chasing Amy, but it suffers as a mainstream romantic comedy trying to cater to Smith's cult audience. The F-bombs and poop jokes go too far, and the porn shoots are just too long and too pornographic. The film has many moments, but this is too amateur and too immature for Smith at this stage of his career.