Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)

Lifelong platonic friends Zack and Miri look to solve their respective cash-flow problems by making an adult film together. As the cameras roll, however, the duo begin to sense that they may have more feelings for each other than they previously thought.

Director:

Kevin Smith

Writer:

Kevin Smith

Stars:

Elizabeth Banks, Seth Rogen, Craig Robinson

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Elizabeth Banks	...	Miri
Seth Rogen	...	Zack
Craig Robinson	...	Delaney
Gerry Bednob	...	Mr. Surya
Edward Janda	...	Customer
Nicholas Lombardi	...	Teen #1
Chris Milan	...	Teen #2
Jennifer Schwalbach Smith	...	Betsy (as Jennifer Schwalbach)
Kenny Hotz	...	Zack II
Brandon Routh	...	Bobby Long
Anne Wade	...	Roxanne
Justin Long	...	Brandon
Tom Savini	...	Jenkins
Jeff Anderson	...	Deacon
Jim Norton	...	Auditioner (as Jimmy Norton)

Storyline

Zack and Miri are two lifelong platonic friends who make an adult film to pay the rent of their apartment. With their friend Delaney, the couple set out for auditionees for their porn film, but in the process of filming, they realize they feel more for each other than they had before.

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Plot Keywords:

friend | actor | reunion | coffee | coffee shop | 

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Taglines:

They Made A Movie So Naughty We Can Only Show Their Faces

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R on appeal for strong crude sexual content including dialogue, graphic nudity and pervasive language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 October 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Untitled Kevin Smith Minnesota Project

Filming Locations:

Monroeville Mall - Business Route 22, Monroeville, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£798,205 (UK) (14 November 2008)

Gross:

$31,452,765 (USA) (23 January 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Blue Askew, Weinstein Company, The, View Askew Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kevin Smith:  [Hockey]  Zack and Deacon play on a hockey team called the Monroeville Zombies.

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Goofs

When Zack and Miri are in the coffee shop, Miri talking about she is unwilling to sleep with a stranger. You can see a coffee pot half filled with coffee. In one of the scenes (at the end of this shot) you can see the coffee vigorously shaking, as is its just been put on the coffee stand, but the seconds both previous and after to this it's completely stable. This happens because Zack had been leaning back against the counter and when he pushes off it jars the counter slightly and disturbs the coffee in the pot.

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Quotes

Mr. Surya: [to Zack and Delaney] I hate you ebony and ivory motherfuckers!

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Crazy Credits

Near the end of the end credits, Kevin Smith lists the addresses of all of his websites. After the lengthy list, he remarks, "Christ, I spend too much time on the Internet."

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Connections

References Sleeping with the Enemy (1991)

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Soundtracks

"Wynona's Big Brown Beaver"
Written by Les Claypool, Larry Lalonde (as Reid LaLonde) and Tim Alexander
Performed by Primus
Courtesy of Interscope Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Zack & Miri Make a Porno and also make you laugh

It is difficult to imagine a title that will more or less tell you almost everything major that happens in the movie you are about to see than Zack & Miri Make a Porno. The title pretty much sums up the whole film right there, in the broad strokes. But, as with most things, the meat is in the subtext. What the title doesn't tell you is that while making a porno, Zack & Miri, and their other accomplices, will make you laugh pretty hard. Zack & Miri Make a Porno may not be high art, but it is very funny movie, with a touch of heart to go along with it.

Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) have been best friends for as long as they can remember. They live together, but in a completely platonic relationship, drive to work together and both attend their school reunion together. Things are a bit rough for them these days, though: their rather meager jobs are not bringing in enough money to keep the rent paid and all the utilities running. So, after running into an old classmate whose lover is the star of porno films in California, they hit upon a brilliant scheme to make some money: make a porno film.

In short order, they raise some capital from a co-worker (Craig Robinson), recruit a stripper, Stacey (Katie Morgan), Lester (Jason Mewes),a man who isn't afraid to expose himself, a cameraman (Jeff Anderson) and Zack and Miri plan to round out the cast themselves. However, in the process of getting down to business, Zack and Miri are realizing that their long-standing friendship may actually be something more, and can they manage to watch each other get it on with someone else after discovering that they may only want to be with each other.

One thing is certain: if you are not able to listen to frank jokes featuring almost every vulgar word in the English language, not to mention a fair dose of nudity and simulated sex, you should be looking elsewhere for an evening at the movies. Zack & Miri Make a Porno pulls few punches in these categories. If this is not an issue for you, then Zack & Miri will provide a plethora of laughs. As scripted by Kevin Smith, Zack & Miri is one hilarious joke after another, most of which comes from Smith's always impressive ability to weave some terrific conversations full of wit between his various characters. Zack & Miri Make a Porno, like all of Smith's best films, is all about the dialogue, and it works wonderfully, as always.

Seth Rogan is proving to be an actor who manages to give a performance that seems so completely unforced and natural. Zack, like many of Rogan's other roles, is a slice of life guy, and Rogen manages to make it seem like you are just watching a friend that you filmed around the house with a video camera. Elizabeth Banks is equally good in the role of Miri, and the two characters have a nice, natural chemistry, that evokes it's power when the two film their first sex scene for the porno, which Smith stages tastefully and scores with a great, unreleased song by Live. You know you care about what happens to these characters once this scene hits.

The supporting cast is strong, especially Robinson as Zack's co-worker who is principally interested in financing this film so he can see some women naked after being married for so long (A scene between his character and his wife late in the film is a riot) and Jason Mewes, no longer under the influence of drugs, proves that he will do almost anything in a film and gets plenty of laughs.

Zack & Miri Make a Porno is Kevin Smith's second turn at a film outside of his "View Askewniverse" series of films that he kicked off with Clerks, and it shows that Smith has ability to produce a funny film without exclusively relying on his old standby characters. In the process of doing so, he has crafted something that, if you can handle the racy nature of the material, will leave you in stitches.