The Fourth Annual James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 7

I was a pretty big fan of Kevin Smith movies in the nineties, but I haven’t really kept up to speed with much of his output in the last twenty years. I’m not sure why. I loved  1994’s Clerks and I’m nostalgically fond enough of 1995’s Mallrats (although it obviously isn’t as good as Clerks) to have continued to follow his career. But, although I have caught a few of his other movies, nothing has really compelled the kind of repeat viewing that I afforded those two. It could be that these days there is just too much else competing for my increasingly limited viewing time, or it could be that my tastes have matured since my teenage years. I expect it’s the former though because I think I’d still enjoy both  Clerks and Mallrats if I were to watch them now.

Until I watched it recently, I wasn’t aware that 2008’s  Zack and Miri Make a Porno was a Kevin Smith movie. But upon watching it, it quite obviously is. Not least because of the casting of both Jason Mewes and Jeff Anderson who seem only to appear in Kevin Smith films.

But it is also full of the same sort of irreverent and dark humour that are the hallmark of a lot of his earlier movies. It does boast a slightly more stellar cast than those early efforts with Seth Rogan and Elizabeth Banks in the eponymous roles of Zack and Miri. Who essentially make a porno.

It is ultimately more warm-hearted than the title suggests, but there is no getting away from the fact that this is not your typical rom-com.

It is pretty funny for the most part though.

Score for Christmasishness

The movie begins on the eve of Thanksgiving. Which we don’t have here in the UK, but I understand that it’s about a month before Christmas. Black Friday also features, which we stupidly do have here in the UK. The timeline would suggest that most of the events happen in the ensuing weeks. Which would mean they happen in the build up to Christmas and there are certainly scenes with Christmas decorations in the background. Not much is made of the time of year once Black Friday is over, but the film still deserves to be considered a bit Christmas(ish).