Blue's Reviews: Zack And Miri Make A Porno

After some debate, we decided to go see Zack And Miri tonight rather than stay up late on a school night to go to a midnight Bond showing. Hopefully we'll make it out to see Bond sometime this weekend.

As an aspiring screenwriter, I continue to be awed by Kevin Smith.

He'll always take his beatings from the mainstream media and the critics. Everyone likes to denigrate him for having the same characters over and over, for being all about dick and fart jokes, and his pop culture obsession. I mean, the guy's writing skill [or lack thereof] was a punchline on Entourage for crying out loud.

But he really is damn good at what he does.

First, the comedy. A lot of people find it crass or what have you but I guess I'm in that select few that felt that things like the donkey show or Jay's tribute to Silence Of The Lambs in Clerks 2 was damn funny. He writes scripts filled with language that would make you pretty embarrassed to see it with your mother. For that, he'll always take a lot of heat from most. But... as Wyatt Earp says in Tombstone, "he makes me laugh." That's all I need.

Second, the characters. Somehow in the middle of all those poop jokes and sex humor, he manages to get you emotionally invested in the characters. Whether it's Randall and Dante in Clerks or even Affleck in the much-maligned Jersey Girl, by the end of the flick, you have a little bit of a soft spot in your heart for them and their stories.

Which brings us to...

Finally, the heart.

While many comedies these days settle for the cheap laughs and that's all, Kevin Smith continues to impress me by finding a way to get heart in all of his flicks. We're talking about a movie where the main characters decide to shoot a porno to pay their bills. On the surface, there should be nothing but cheap laughs and a shallow plot. But by the end, you find yourself interested to see how things are going to turn out and get a little bit of a warm, funny feeling when it's all said and done.

Chasing amy is the top of the list for me for Kevin Smith movies and while Zack And Miri doesn't get near that, it's funny enough and has enough heart to merit inclusion high on the list and should be on your list of movies to see in the coming weeks.