On DVD: Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Over an hour of deleted scenes and a detailed making-of make the DVD a delight for Kevin Smith devotees.
'Zach and Miri Make a Porno' on DVD
'Zach and Miri Make a Porno' on DVD - Weinstein Company
C. Robert Cargill

Kevin Smith is back with another mildly offensive, juvenile joke-fest for slackers, miscreants and indie-loving cinephiles -- you know, guys like me. I love Smith and the work he does, so it came as no surprise that I would love the delightful little film Zack and Miri Make a Porno as well. When last we left Kevin Smith, he had just come to grips with his place in the universe (in his film Clerks 2), making small east coast indie comedies for his modest yet devoted fanbase.

Stepping, once again, away from his Jersey Universe, Smith treads upon dangerous ground, returning to the type of sweet, romantic filmmaking that got him in trouble with Jersey Girl. This time, however, he avoided the PG-13 humor that absolutely doomed Jersey Girl and instead made a very R-rated, raunchy comedy with a competent cast of actors who took Smith's trademark dialogue and made it their own. The result is a very funny, very sweet comedy that will delight fans and find enough crossover to amuse even those growing tired of Smith's body of work.

But enough of the foreplay. Odds are by now you know whether or not this film is for you. So how's the disc? Incredible. It has enough Kevin Smith goodness to entertain fans for hours after they've watched the main feature.

The single best thing the 2-disc set has to offer are the deleted scenes, which you can watch in order as one "Play All." While this is nothing new, the fact that there is an hour-and-a-half of original deleted material to be watched and digested will certainly perk up those who loved the film. Entire chunks that clearly needed to go in the editing room prove to contain nugget after nugget of character development and explanations to little mysteries that keen observers (or OCD types) might have wanted to know the answers to.

What is that mysterious brown stain on the ice on their car? How did Miri end up wearing Granny Panties? And how did they score a community theater to practice in? There's so much of this film that ended up on the cutting room floor that not a single tiny detail that I shrugged at initially went unanswered after I watched what amounted to an entire other film's worth of deleted scenes. While there are not a lot of great jokes that were left out, the film's characters come more to the forefront with this material.

Then there's an hour-plus making-of doc that really weaves together an interesting picture of how much of this film really revolved around Seth Rogen's involvement, including how he helped bring Elizabeth Banks aboard. There are a lot of interesting tidbits in here, but it's typical of the current trend in long-form making-of docs on DVDs, and would really only appeal to the most devoted fan. Wrapping up that part of the disc is the Comic-Con 2008 Q&A session in which Smith and the entire cast fielded questions from fanboys that ranged from tame to Traci Lords discussing her porn career at age 15.

There are also 13 minutes of outtakes and bloopers, and a 7-minute sequence of Seth Rogen and Justin "I'm a Mac" Long trying to one-up one another during an improv sequence at the high school reunion. This scene is particularly great as these guys are two of today's truly talented young comedians -- watching them play with each other's timing and jokes is really something special. Finally, there's a series of all the web shorts they made for the film, including the infamous "More You Know" spoofs teaching kids about porn and sex. Altogether, the disc is a fantastic collection of material that will definitely become a must-own for Smith fans.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno is available today from The Weinstein Company Home Entertainment.


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