758. Zack And Miri Make A Porno (2008)

Starring: Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Craig Robinson

Director: Kevin Smith

Running Time: 101 mins

Zack And Miri Make A Porno is an American film about two lifelong friends who, despite not wanting to complicate their relationship with sex, end up in such a dire economic situation that they decide to make an adult film, and in the process, discover that they really are closer than they ever thought.

For what this film is, I’m sure that I enjoyed it far too much. It’s a hugely vulgar and juvenile the whole way through, both in terms of the comedy and the main story, but although I’m not the biggest fan of this type of humour, I laughed so much in this film, because the comedy was genuinely funny, not annoying as you would expect.

Starting with the comedy, I was really impressed. I was pretty sceptical going into something as frankly titled as this, expecting a typically unintelligent, disgusting and unfunny sex comedy, however I was pleasantly surprised that this film just feels like a normal, solid comedy flick.

It seems a lot like the Judd Apatow films, with Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks playing those usual down-to-earth, hilarious characters, but I thought that it was even funnier than those films because the comedy was so racy, and successfully so, without being disgusting or irritating, and I really do commend that.

Of course, if you’re a real hater of this sort of vulgar comedy, I’d stay away from this film if I were you, because it is really graphic and doesn’t hold back with its profanities, but if you are looking for a simple and good laugh, this is a really good pick that will keep you hugely entertained the whole way through.

However, in the second act of the film, the main focus shifts from the sex comedy to becoming a surprisingly heartfelt and endearing romance between Zack and Miri. I feared at the beginning that, when this film was going to try to be more emotional, it would feel horribly forced and cheesy, and would ruin the whole fun of the film, but I was pleasantly surprised.

The romance that emerges in the latter stages of the film is a very realistic, believable and pleasant one, pulling away from all of the juvenile comedy that the rest of the film is about, and actually focussing on quite a sweet and heartfelt relationship, which added to my enjoyment of the film because it made me smile as well as laugh at the comedy, and it’s because of that fantastic combination that I’ll give this a 7.8.