Zack and Miri Make a Porno

One feels odd using the term mature to describe as sophomoric a director as Kevin Smith but a refined crudeness makes Zack and Miri an oddly satisfying film. Smith brings the joy filmmaking to his work, albeit the joy of a thirteen year old who has just discovered a camera. Of course, he also has the scene of humor of a thirteen year old boy. Yet the raw humor is so pleasingly set forth and supported by a strong sense of craft that the film works. The great moments in the movie come from Smith’s ability to support both the awareness that this is film while never throwing it in the viewer’s face. At times the camera lingers on an actor or a scene when cutting away would keep the viewer immersed in the action. This second or two in which the image is held in front of the viewer reinforces the basic pleasure of film, seeing things on the screen. We often make the mistake of thinking that seeing reality or being immersed in a world is the triumph of film. Instead the pleasure of film is its very artifice and Smith loves the artifice of film, recognizes it and uses it. He never teases the audience by jarringly breaking the barrier between film and audience or breaking it simply for the sake of breaking them, rather he sees film as a creative, playful medium whose artifice is its great joy.