Zach and Miri Fill in the Blank
Zach and Miri Make a Porno: would a video by any other title sound as obscene?
Zach and Miri Make a Porno: would a video by any other title sound as obscene?
Apparently Wal-Mart does not think so. The word ‘porno’ is defined by Dictionary.com as “creative activity (writing, or pictures, or film, etc.) of no literary value other than to stimulate sexual desire.” When the movie, directed by Kevin Smith, of Clerks fame, was set to hit stores Wal-Mart decided that it would not release the DVD with this term on the box. Instead, the movie was released under the shortened title of Zach and Miri. Target was among the stores to join Wal-Mart in its stance to keep the explicit term from their shelves.
However, Zach and Miri Make a Porno can be purchased in its full titled glory at Blockbuster and Best Buy. These two stores were among those that did not deem it necessary to edit the full title.
While the movie focuses on the relationship of two best friends who decide to make a porn film to make some much needed money, the movie is not porn itself.
Zach Brown and Miri “Stinky” Linky met in the first grade and have been best friends ever since. The audience finds out the classmates, now turned roommates, are strapped for cash in an amusing scene in which the water has been shut off in the middle of Miri’s lather, rinse, and repeat cycle. After lathering up the shampoo with no water to rinse, Miri orders Zach to pour toilet water into her soapy hair.
At their 10 year high school reunion, the twosome find out an old classmate is now in the adult film industry. From this realization the couple develops an idea to write, film, and star in their own porn in order to solve their financial issues.
Zach’s character is played by Seth Rogen, star of other R-rated movies such as Knocked Up and Pineapple Express. With notable one liners and a mouth like a sailor’s, Rogen’s films are sure to be a hit in the box office. But this movie, rated “R” for strong, crude, sexual content, nudity, and language, falls a little short. The movie progresses through the characters’ misguided attempts at producing an adult film with a chain of events that leads to a rather foreseeable ending.
Despite this predictability, Zach and Miri offers a decent love story between a couple that the audience will find itself rooting for throughout the movie. Smith’s film also provides a lineup of notable stars like Elizabeth Banks of Role Models and Jason Mewes recognizable from Smith’s well-known Jay and Silent Bob characters.
But do not fret audience: the edited title does not change the movie or any DVD features. The DVD contains the 101-minute film along with a number of special features on a two-disc edition. These include hilarious outtakes and bloopers, and a special called “Popcorn and Porn: the making of Zach and Miri.” The special additions on the second disc are just as funny and entertaining as the movie itself, if not more.
Watch the trailor. (Warning: Uncensored)
