zack and miri make a porno (2008)

i had two hours to kill this afternoon so decided to take in a screening. first things first - as a teenager i loved kevin smiths films. mallrats was a late night tv classic for me and my friends. there will always be a special place in my heart for that film, along with clerks and chasing amy. dogma was great too, and while, as a film its pretty dire, jay and silent bob struck the right chord at the time. i was one of the few people that actively enjoyed jersey girl, even to the point that i was disapointed when smith returned to the view askewniverse with clerks 2, although after seeing the film i was grateful he did. and while over the years i think i have maybe grown out of enjoying his films in the same way as i did as a 17 year old, i have always had time for them, and always, at the very least, enjoyed them.

unfortunately that ends with zack and miri.

not being a fan of seth rogen was always going to prove a problem. i cant help but think just how much funnier this film would have been had someone like jason lee played the role of zack, alas that is beside the point, the film suffers from something much more severe than a simple case of mis-casting. smith's dialogue simply isnt funny to me anymore. emphasis on cursewords in lieu of genuine wit is one thing, but the long held problem that smith cant write dialogue for women has never been more obvious than in zack and miri. take into account the bizarre treatment of banks' character at certain points and you have a film thats perspective is borderline misogynistic at certain points, reminiscent of the more particular over zealous internet geek-sites that smith himself ripped apart in jay and silent bob strikes back. by the way he writes it sounds like he doesnt have a clue about women.

if there were a prize for bad titles, then ''zack and miri'' would take it. handsdown the worst title iv heard this year.

there were a few positives; craig robinson had some great lines, they even raised a chuckle, and jeff anderson is always great value, if not slightly jarring when out of the comfort zone of randall. justin long's voice was a sound to behold and it was great to see brandon routh back actually doing something. overall though i just couldnt help but feel like smith didnt have anything to say, yet was still managing to say it badly.