Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Impressions before seeing it
I don't know why it took me so long to finally see this. There's no real reason other than "I just didn't get around to it." I like Kevin Smith. I like Seth Rogan and Elizabeth Banks, too.

How was it?
I had a blast watching this movie. It's actually a lot of fun watching a bunch of normal people try to make a porno. It's also a lot of fun watching Justin Long play a character other than "Mac" or "the awkward loser teen who Jason Biggs was too old to play." He should show off his range more, he was one of the funniest parts of the movie. Not to discredit everything else, of course. Rogan and Banks have great chemistry, probably because they were friends and because they both seem like cool people off camera. It's also great to see Craig Robinson again, who started out playing the warehouse foreman on The Office and is now a rising comedy star, and a funny cameo by Kenny Hotz of Kenny vs. Spenny fame.

Now let's address this film's famous criticism: everyone says it's trying to capitalize on the popularity of Judd Apatow films by mimicing the adult-humour-followed-by-heartfelt-ending style. Do I think Smith did this concsciously? Probably not. In fact if you look back at some of his other films you could argue that he was doing this long before Apatow achieved mass popularity. I will say that Zack and Miri's romance was done in a way that was not at all new, but you know what, it works because the characters are so likeable. I also believe that one should be very good friends with one's spouse, but that's a matter of personal opinion.

Recommendation
As you can probably guess, I'm just going to say that you should see it if you're a Kevin Smith fan (Yes, it does have Jason Mewes and Jeff Anderson and Smith's wife Jennifer), or if you're a Judd Apatow fan (You'll probably still get "the Apatow experience"), and especially if you're a fan of both.