Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Kevin Smith treads in dangerous waters between the buoys of an "NC-17" and an "R" rating. Ultimately green-lit for an "R" rating, Zack and Miri Make a Porno is a raunchy romp that isn't afraid to bare it all as it charms us, blurring the line between sweet and obscenely graphic. Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) are a pair of best friends who find themselves in a bitter spot, pinched for cash with stacks of unpaid bills piling sky high. Desperate to lift themselves from their financial woes, they decide to make a porno and star in it. In a purely platonic friendship, the pressure of having sex burdens their lifelong friendship and could put it in jeopardy as complications of what it means surfaces.

This sweet romantic comedy flirts with a fairly familiar structure as it can be predictable, but what sets it apart is dialogue and scripted corniness of making an amateur porn tape. Rogen and Banks have a great chemistry as they're practically siblings. Of course, though, you have the levelheaded foresight to see what will ensue after they climactically have sex on camera. Emotions stir up and the question of whether it meant something spills out and then it all hits the fan.

Smith crept into Apatow's realm as he recruited some of his clan members into this outrageous romantic comedy painted with gratuitous sex. Someone like Craig Robinson, from The Office, steals the show with his soft spoken candor and controlled lash outs at race talk. The entire crew Zack and Miri employ are blessed with charisma and pornographic talents and cursed with stupidity that makes for a dynamite combo of laughs. Smith doesn't overstep his bounds when it comes down to it as he gets mushy on us realizing this is still a romantic comedy.

Zack and Miri is a new spin on the romantic comedy genre, hoisting it above the typical fairy tale, "PG-13," gaga fest. It dabbles in the dirty, but makes the disgusting appealing, as it doesn't overly exploit the graphic imagery of dangling parts or inner bottled releases, using it in the right amounts. It's crude and inescapable as all the quips and explorations of porn are tackled. Smith tries to steer an even course between naughty and sweet. Through his smart writing and collaboratively witty cast, he delivers one of the funniest movies of the year.