Zack & Miri Poster

So with a title like that, how could I not watch the movie? Okay I kid. The truth is out of the millions of romantic comedies out there, I really wanted to watch this because it’s a Kevin Smith movie. Who? You ask? The man behind Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Clerks and Clerks II among others.

I’ve actually not caught a Kevin Smith movie in a long time, the last being Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back in 2001. I bought Clerks II but haven’t gotten down to watching it. How does Zack and Miri measure up? Read on!

The premise of the movie is simple. Friends Zack and Miri are broker than broke, so in desperation, they think about making a porn movie to make money. Of course, that brings up the question if they’ll have sex with each other, and will that change anything between them?

From the get go, you know this is a Kevin Smith movie. The expletives and sex references fly fast and furious, and while Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks do a relatively good job of pulling those lines off, it’s not quite done in the same way as the previous movies like Dogma, Clerks or Jay & Silent Bob. Probably because they are male-dominated movies.

Jason Mewes aka Lester Molester aka Jay

As far as the jokes go, the show is hilarious. Justin Long and Brandon Routh (Superman) make a hilarious cameo on the movie. Jeff Anderson (Randall from Clerks) has a crazy moment and of course Jason Mewes brings the house down in a way no other actor can in a Kevin Smith movie.

Oh and as always in Kevin Smith content, there’s stuff for the Star Wars fan. There’s a middle scene for their porn movie titled “Star Whores” that will really, really crack you up. I was laughing non-stop.

So this is essentially a romantic comedy right? The comedy is awesome, the romance? Not so much.

The way everything just fell into place with everyone just didn’t do it for me, although it’s fairly easy to suspend belief for the movie and just laugh. The characters are suitably well developed individually, but there isn’t enough to convince me that they’d be friends and a group this quickly.

Zack & Miri

Overall, does this movie live up to Kevin Smith’s previous movies? Probably not, but that said, it’s still a pretty damn funny movie that I’d recommend if you want a good laugh. As for Kevin Smith, I feel he should concentrate on what he does best: making funny movies with his standard crew of funny actors like Jason Mewes and Jeff Anderson. Watch Clerks and/or Jay & Silent Bob and tell me I’m wrong.