ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO

Director: Kevin Smith

Stars: Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Jason Mewes, Craig Robinson, Traci Lords, Ricky Mabe, Justin Long, Brandon Routh

Year: 2008

Rating: R

I'll say it flat out to start this review - Zack and Miri Make a Porno is freaking hilarious, and one of the best comedies I've seen in a long time.

It's not for everyone - the nudity and simulated sex might be quite shocking for some, even beyond the movie's controversial subject matter/storyline itself. But if you can get over that - or have had ANY experience with the adult industry or even watching porn movies - this is one film you can both relate and laugh out loud to. It's that good.

Seth Rogen plays Zack Brown, a 28-year-old slacker who works at a Starbucks-like coffee shop in Monroeville, Pennsylvania. He's got a foul mouth and a bad attitude - or so says his boss, Mr. Surya (Gerry Bednob, in a funny-as-hell supporting role), a Hindu with a foul mouth and bad attitude of his own. Zack works at the coffee shop with his friend Delaney (Craig Robinson), who's basically killing time working there until his lawsuit settlement with the postal service kicks in. At home, Zack lives with his roommate Miri Linky (Elizabeth Banks) - his lifelong best friend who is also approaching thirty, and still working a crappy retail job. Both are just sort of trudging through life, with a huge stack of unpaid bills and only each other for company...

Until their ten-year class reunion serves as sort of a wake-up call for Zack. All Miri seems to get from the reunion is the letdown of finding out that Bobby Long (Brandon Routh) - the jock she had the hots for when she was a dork back in high school - is gay. But Zack connects with Bobby's boyfriend, Brandon St. Randy (Justin Long, in maybe the best performance of the film), who happens to be a huge gay porn star out in Los Angeles, where the couple now live. And as Zack and Miri's water and electricity have both been shut off for non-payment, that night Zack gets what he is sure is the idea of his life - he and Miri will make a porno, sell it to everyone on their high school reunion list (after all, Zack reasons, who wouldn't want to watch a porno that has someone they graduated high school with in it?), and pay off all their bills again.

Miri rejects the idea at first - she and Zack have been friends, and only friends, for a whole lot of years - but eventually goes with the flow as it's only business, and the two begin to recruit both a cameraman and other "actors" for the film. Lester the Molester (Jason Mewes, actually looking kind of hot here, compared to how we've seen him before), Bubbles (Traci Lords) - who can do an amazing trick that shows the reason for her name - and boy next door-type Barry (Ricky Mabe), who has a few fetishes of his own to explore, are only a few of those who come aboard.

But when fate almost kill Zack's get rich quick scheme, the gang decides to shoot the movie after hours in the coffee shop ... and Zack and Miri learn some hard lessons about sex, and how it can change the dynamics of even the strongest relationship.

Again, this isn't a film for everyone. But if you're the laidback type, or have had any experience with the kind of film Zack and Miri are making, this film is a riot of a comedy with a simple love story for a backbone. Kevin Smith's unflinching script and direction is very in-your-face and honest; he really brings out the humor and absurdity of the adult industry business without making it a slam at the adult industry business. His characters - gay, straight, or experimenting with both - are never ridiculed or poked fun at, but simply allowed to be. It's a very open-minded script about a very open-minded industry, making for a film to be enjoyed by an open-minded viewer (my only complaint, in fact, was that Routh and Long's one kiss wasn't full-on, and all too brief - but that's nit-picking).

But the bottom line is, I laughed out loud more than a few times at this very funny, well-told tale of a pair of twentysomethings who find a unique solution to their financial problems. It's a comedy with a lot of laughs, a little eroticism, and some real heart. A great - maybe even brilliant - movie. ****1/2 - Reel Awesome-Reel Must-See