In Theater - Zack and Miri Make a Porno

They really do. They make a porno.

I kind of thought it was a metaphor - or just the backstory - but the porno-making is really front and center. Full-frontal?

It's a charming film nonetheless. A classic love story. With Kevin Smith twists.

The main leads are decent actors; the supporting cast? Not so much. And as he is prone to do, he turns nothing scenes into little bouts of hilarity all the while making you think that the whole thing was shot by hand in a mini-mart. Wait, wrong movie. But you do get the same feeling as with Clerks -- only if Clerks had had a bigger budget.

It's not like the story is a big mystery at this point (another review sitting in draft...). Zack and Miri have been friends forever, and they now live together in Pittsburgh, which Smith makes look as depressing as it might actually be (hey, I grew up in Cleveland). It's the middle of winter and they are going to their high school reunion. Neither has a great job and they have no money - what they do have Zack spends on crap he can't afford and then can't pay his rent or the bills. Eventually, the electricity is turned off, and they are freezing and practically homeless. What to do?

During a fairly hilarious conversation with the "Mac guy" at the HS reunion, Zack learns that Mac guy makes and distributes gay porn on his own in LA. After making a joke about Miri becoming a prostitute, Zack mentions that if Mac guy makes porn, why couldn't they do it and make some money? His big idea is to use the HS reunion contact list for sales because "if you heard somebody from HS was in a porno, wouldn't you want to see it?"

So they embark. They cast a porno. Nudity ensues. Boobs. Full frontal. They get ready to film and ... the set is destroyed. But they find a new set in a mini-mart...I mean coffee shop and we see more boobs, nudity, sex, back door sex, nudity, fighting, love, and...

The porno gets done. Zack realized he loves Miri after she leaves because of his boneheadedness (that really isn't). Eventually Zack hunts her down, and they have REAL sex (not porno sex). It's love. The end.

So, even with the less than stellar acting (which you get used to, I guess) and mild predictability, the film is fun and entertaining. Worth watching - but you could probably wait for the DVD. I say this after a few (weeks) months - the day after I saw it I was ALL about how funny it was. So after a second screening, I may change my mind again.

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