Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Pretty much what I expected it to be, no more and no less. Kevin Smith has been deeply entrenched in what I like to call his "mullet years" for some time now, making movies that want to be hip and sharp-witted for his hardcore fans, but also warm-hearted and dumbed down for the larger audiences he's always missed out on. It's not a recipe for success, or at least for entertaining flicks. Most directors only stumble across something like Chasing Amy once in their careers, and as much as it disappoints me to realize it, Smith just isn't good enough at what he does to make that happen again. He's bound and determined to try, though, and lukewarm feature-lengths like this one are the end result. It's better than Clerks 2, at least, and was on a good roll in the first act before it veered off into dramaland.

You may have heard about some of the controversy that surrounded this movie. Some groups (I won't beat a dead horse here) protested this movie and actually got it removed from many theaters. Why? Because of content? Nope. You guessed it - because of the title. Never mind that you can tune into network tv on any night of the week and hear innuendo worse than what was actually in the movie (and I support a show's right to have this content - we need to stop babying kids and parents need to be parents). Anyway, on to the movie. Kevin Smith's work seems to be hit-or-miss and this one is one that should be in the "hit" category. It isn't going to be confused with the Godfather but it is light years better than some of the movies that have passed for comedies lately (Knocked Up comes to mind). The movie was pretty funny and at the end of the day it was very enjoyable. It isn't for kids but I recommend it for anyone else.