Thursday, September 11, 2008

Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) are roommates and best friends since high school. Constantly behind on their bills, and reminded by a reunion of their lack of success over the years, the two turn desperate when their utilities get cut off. Over a beer, they hit on the idea of making a pornographic film, starring themselves, to make some cash and get back on their feet. They rope in a cast of characters to join them, including Kevin Smith stalwarts Jason Mewes (as an actor with a very special talent) and Jeff Anderson (as their cameraman), Craig Robinson (Darryl from The Office as Rogen's coffee shop co-worker and producer), Traci Lords (with a very special talent of her own), and many more. As they set out to make their movie, Zack and Miri swear to each other to not let things get personal, but their best laid plans might very well go awry.

This is vintage Kevin Smith, and I found it much funnier and more enjoyable that his last feature outing in Clerks II. Seth Rogen plays another in his series of lovable losers, so nothing new there, but he does play the role well and he has great chemistry with Elizabeth Banks (who goes from this to Laura Bush in Oliver Stone's W; talk about range! :-)). Filled with the usual colourful collection of supporting characters (including Mac guy Justin Long and Superman Brandon Routh), raunchy scenes, and Smith's trademark rapid-fire dialog peppered with pop-culture references, Zack and Miri is exactly what you'd hope for and expect from a Kevin Smith film.

Director Kevin Smith, and actors Elizbeth Banks, Jason Mewes, Katie Morgan, and Ricky Mabe did a Q&A after the film. Recap below, and I did end up censoring a lot so this doesn't get completely blocked by firewalls (and there are also loads of spoilers):

  • Seth Rogen couldn't attend the screening, as he was shooting a new film with Judd Apatow.
  • TIFF programmer Jane Schoettle, moderating the Q&A, looked a bit out of element given the pretty blue language in use.
  • Smith was shooting near Pittsburgh, but didn't want to set the film right in the city because it seemed to metropolitan to him. So they went to Monroeville (which has the mall from the original Dawn of the Dead).
  • Someone asked why Jason Mewes didn't do his half-half whole swivel move in the film, and Mewes said he didn't want to duplicate himself since he used it in Jay and Silent Bob, and anyway, that's Jay's move, not Lester's.
  • One guy commented on how this movie has cemented Elizabeth Banks as 'America's Sweetheart' and asked what attracted her to the role. Banks replied that it was getting to say F--- a lot, because you don't get to do that in Steven Spielberg movies. Smith: "There was that one time in ET...". Banks: "And in A.I. with that little kid"
  • Smith was asked if George Lucas was down with the whole Star Wars thing; to which he replied, not yet, but he hasn't seen the movie, so that might be a good thing. They've done Star Wars references in the past, but this might be the one where Lucas says, alright, f---ing stop it.
  • On how he talked his way out of an NC-17 rating, Smith says they focused on two scenes: the one with Lester and Stacey in the coffee shop and the one with Jeff Anderson (which I won't describe but you should be able to guess once you've seen the film). Smith knew that he couldn't make a movie with the title it has without being heavily scrutinized, so they went out of their way to ensure everything would conform to an R (albeit a hard R).
  • For the Lester/Stacey scene, which they claimed had too much thrusting, Smith referenced Taking Lives, specifically the scene in the 3rd act between Ethan Hawke and Angelina Jolie. Smith made the point that there was as much thrusting in that scene, and it was an R and meant to be serious (which, Smith joked, it wasn't) and that scene was meant to titillate, whereas his was clearly a caricature of sex.
  • For the Jeff Anderson scene, Smith cited Jackass and the scene with the bubble helmet, and how you could see the real thing.
  • Smith joked that when he was at Skywalker Sound doing the final mix and saw the completed film for the first time end-to-end, he said, f--- they were right, it is NC-17. He said that he thought they would actually nail him on the scene towards the end of the movie where Mewes comes out of the room.
  • On the topic of the movie poster being banned in the US but not in Canada, Smith said it was a bummer but at least it will be seen up here, and he played to the crowd by saying that's one more reason why Canada is better. He said the whole poster thing is the second best thing about Canada after hockey, or maybe the third best thing after hockey and Seth Rogen, and then added Ricky Mabe as the fourth (who is from Pointe Claire, Quebec).
  • Someone asked Smith if he'd work again with Rogen, to which he joked not after Rogen didn't bother to come the screening, but maybe he'd work again with 'America's Sweetheart' (i.e. Banks). He caught himself before saying 'Canada's Sweetheart', as that's 'f---ing Sarah Polley'.

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My experiences at the Toronto International Film Festival. Note this blog is not affiliated with the Toronto International Film Festival Group or the festival itself.
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