I wouldn’t call myself a huge fan of Kevin Smith’s movies. I love the man, love his take on this crazy industry, loved “An Evening with Kevin Smith,” etc. But most of the time, when he gets behind a camera, it doesn’t work for me on some level.
Of course, there are those who love to hate on Smith’s cinematic output because vitriol is sometimes easier to come by than measured consideration, but I try not to go there with him for some reason. Maybe it’s the comic book thing. (Speaking of which, “Batman Cacophony” is a pretty good three-issue arc if you didn’t catch it over the last few months).
I found some things to admire in “Clerks,” which has some qualities perhaps more endearing in 1994 than in 2009, but I really hated “Mallrats.” I thought “Chasing Amy” showed his promise and felt “Dogma” to be rather daring in some ways.
“Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” did exactly what it was supposed to do, while “Jersey Girl” and “Clerks II” were extensions of “Chasing Amy”‘s promise with various limitations. But “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” which I missed last fall and finally caught on DVD over the weekend, might be Smith’s best work to date.
Of course, I’d say The Weinstein Company mishandled the release on this thing and didn’t drum up the publicity necessary to land it the kind of box office it probably deserved, but beyond the business of it all, there’s a touching piece of work in there. Smith was smart to associate himself with folks like Seth Rogen and Craig Robinson, quickly becoming figments of the new comedy breed in Hollywood. He also got a pretty good performance out of Jason Mewes that didn’t have to depend on the usual toilet humor (though you could certainly find that elsewhere in the film).
Anyway, kind of a rambling post, but I was impressed. Even with a disgusting poop gag (I laughed), this is a film with heart that resonated more than I thought it would. Nicely done. No surprise the stuffy top-tier critical fraternity wasn’t on board, though.
What did you guys think?
Comments
21 responses to “‘Zack and Miri’: Smith’s best yet”
Really didnt care for Zack and Miri as much as I wanted.
I loved Jay and Bob Strike Back, its prob my favorite besides Clerks.
Wanted to love Batman Cacophony, but the art (really the Joker) turned me off…
Zack and Miri is one of two comedies I’ve bought since Superbad, the other being Happy-Go-Lucky.
I thought it was fantastic and I agree that it’s Smith’s best film to date. Severely underrated and it’s a shame it had to go up against a more heavily promoted and lackluster Role Models that ended up stealing it’s spotlight. Financial miss or not, the movie is hilarious.
Kris, I HIGHLY recommend watching the special features of Rogen and Long improvising with each other, it almost manages to be funnier than the movie.
I expected to love this movie, but it really fell flat for me. For me, “comedies” Be Kind Rewind, Baby Mama, War Inc and Nick and Norah’s were worse in 2008.
I like “Clerks” and “Dogma” enough, too, so I don’t think I’m anti-Smith.
It’s just that the movie was raunchy for the sake of that, and nothing else. I think Judd Apatow’s people are doing a lot for romantic comedies, making the brand more accessible to men by strengthening the humor (I’m thinking Forgetting Sarah Marshall and 40-Year-Old Virgin off the top of my head). This, I think, was a movie caught between wanting to be the Apatow RomCom and Smith wanting to push the genre into something perverse.
I don’t know if any of that makes sense. But for me, it was a film without an identity. Love Craig Robinson though, of course.
I have to vehemently disagree. Haven’t bothered with Smith’s output since Dogma but I had heard too many good things about this to not try it through Netflix. Can’t go into everything, but it was horribly paced, terribly shot, wretched score and music choices, contrived within an inch of its life and offensive in its portrayal of gays and blacks. The only good thing was the performances of Rogen, Banks and Robinson
I think “contrived” pretty much sums Smith up. You kind of have to go in expecting as much. But I think he makes it work.
And it’s hardly offensive to have a saucy black wife depicted by friggin’ GINA of all people, or to have a harmless gag with Superman and the Mac guy.
I actually called it “rom-com of the year” at the time. It was different, but still classic in a way. My verdict: thumbs up.
I also enjoyed it. Overlooked and underappreciated. Jason Mewes never fails to make me laugh. And Elizabeth Banks keeps on surprising…
Wretched. One of the worst films released last year.
Not bad, but not great either. I always liked Smith more in interviews than as a filmmaker, although I am a huge fan of Chasing Amy and not only believe that it’s Smith’s best film, but one of the best films of 1997. I absolutely love it.
I enjoyed it enough. About a 6/10 and definitely Smith’s best.
BTW: I think Smith would be the ultimate pop culture blogger. Can we make this happen?
Really? I thought it was easily Smith’s worst. Not funny in the least and a horrendous third act. Smith shouldn’t try and be Apatow, he should just be himself (and learn how to film a movie). A D- is all I give it.
The reviews told me to expect a little porn and lots of heart, instead I got lots of porn and some contrived sentimentality. The porn was overwhelming and gratuitous. A very uncomfortable movie to watch in company – especially in a cinema full of 50 year old single guys. (Not including me for the record.)
Nevertheless, I enjoyed some of the comic tidbits very much, especially from Craig Robinson and Justin Long. “Revenge of the shit” is an oft-referenced one liner in my circle.
Still can’t replace Clerks II on my list. I absolutely loved that film, it’s so full of the chatty cross-talk act stuff I adore. I’m a big fan of Waiting for Godot, and always appreciate it when a writer can sacrifice plot for juicy dialouge. But that’s just my personal taste, and lots of people disagree with me. Hey, what do I know?
I really dig Zack and Miri quite a lot. It’s a film I find myself constantly coming back to when I want something funny and (not to be derogatory) comfortable. It’s not a groundbreaking movie by any stretch of the imagination, but it is very, very funny and very sweet. “Sentimental” might be the more appropriate term, but it was a sentimentality that I could buy into and really enjoy because the actors played it with enough honesty to make it work. Rogen, Banks, and Robinson are all pretty damn dependable in my book.
And, of course, featuring a line I quote way too much:
“Han Solo ain’t had no sex with Princess Leia in the Star War!”
And probably one of the five funniest lines in any film I saw last year:
“I would jerk off and live alone. That woman is the bane of my existence.”
Though, to note, I’m also an avid Smith fan. “Clerks.” has long ranked as one of my favorite movies.
It was cute. But I fell asleep.
Zack and Miri was my the first Smith movie i saw and it was very good and hilarious (especially justin long voice, lol), cant wait to see the rest of his films.
Did someone just compare Clerks II with Waiting for Godot?
I think they were comparing “Clerks.” and “Waiting for Godot,” not “Clerks II.” I mean, in structure, and the sense of our two central characters being more or less stuck somewhere they’re not supposed to be or want to be, as well as a film that emphasizes character relationship over a strict “plot”, then yeah, there are some comparisons. Plus, Dante and Randal make a decent Didi and Gogo, and Jay and Silent Bob are sort of an interesting parallel to Pozzo and Lucky.
So, yeah, in a way, “Clerks.” is kinda like “Waiting for Godot.” With dick jokes.
Though come to think of it, Didi and Gogo want to hang themselves because they’ll get erections, so even “Waiting for Godot” has dick jokes.
So I guess “Clerks.” is kinda like “Waiting for Godot” with Star Wars references.
Liked the first half and then almost as if on cue along came the absurd sentimentality that contrasted so poorly with everything that it soured the movie. Meh.