Fall Movie Review Roundup: Happy-Go-Lucky Porno Models

ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO (C+) 

Pretty big Kevin Smith fan here, and it's baffling that he's only just now getting his due as a precursor to the "raunchy n' sweet" vibe of Judd Apatow. I admire Clerks for being a true comedy and independent film pioneer, think Mallrats is absolutely hilarious, find Chasing Amy something of a landmark romantic comedy, Dogma one of the better examinations of religion made in my lifetime, and Clerks 2 a genuinely moving (even with the donkey show sequence) look at growing older. But even at his best, Smith's films always have clunky and awkward moments that simply don't work, and in a few cases (Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Jersey Girl) the bad outweighs the good by a considerable margin. I'm truly disappointed to say that Zack and Miri Make a Porno falls into that latter category. 

I'm disappointed because this could have been Smith's chance to step from the fringes to a viable comic entity, a la Apatow. It's a great premise, he's loaded the film with ringers from the Apatow camp (Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Craig Robinson), and the balance of romance and smut is just what the public is high on these days. But...man. Let me put it this way, if I have an issue with how many times the word "fuck" is used, you're doing it too much. Way too much. My favorite movie is Goodfellas, for crying out loud. Yes, young people can be filthy when they/we talk but this is ridiculous. If conversations with my friends were this loaded with cock, pussy, ass, shit, and fuck, we would lose track of what we were talking about. Throw a noun or a verb in the mix! All the great Smith wordplay of yore (phony though it sounded at times) is gone here, replaced by easy, lazy shocks...and the shock fades pretty quickly when every line contains a four letter word. I realize I sound like a total prude, especially for a guy who has spent the past three years making dick jokes on this very site, but there's got to be a balance. Oh, and the big gross-out scene you (may) have heard about? It's gross alright. Not funny, but really, really gross.

There's good here -- an extended high school reunion sequence is fun (all movies set at high school reunions are pretty good, aren't they?) and there are scattered laughs, but they're real few and real far between. The romance is completely unconvincing and fairly lame. And I've had much funnier conversations about the intricacies of porn with my friends. Come back, K. Smith.

HAPPY-GO-LUCKY (C+)

I consider myself a reasonably smart dude, ranking somewhere between Albert Einstein and Sarah Palin. But I just can't figure out what, if anything, I was supposed to take away from this thing. It's gotten outstanding reviews, there's Oscar talk for lead Sally Hawkins, but it left me shrugging like a son of a bitch. How to recap the plot? Ahhhh...there's a woman (Hawkins, pictured) who's really...happy-go-lucky. She takes driving lessons from a really...angry guy. Ahhhh...she also does other things? And she's really happy? Yeah, that's about it. Except at the end, something bad happens to her. So...the message I took away from the film is that if you're nice and happy and good to people, terrible things will happen to you. That's honestly what I took away. Not a particularly great lesson, right?

Along the way, there is a pretty touching romance that starts way too late, a couple interesting scenes, and Pulp's song "Common People" is used. (If I ever do a revised "100 Greatest Songs" list, "Common People" will rank in the top 20. I still kick myself for forgetting it.) Hawkins gives a heavily polarizing (though fascinating no matter which side you're on) performance. I thought she was a completely original creation -- funny, lovable, even oddly attractive. My roommate on the other hand turned to me at several points and whispered "I HATE her." I guess it's possible that's the point too. Why do we hate happy people? Shouldn't we love them? Regardless, you don't need to see this movie to figure out where you stand, and if you come away from this little review confused about the film, just know you'd feel the same if you saw it.

ROLE MODELS (B+) 

Now here's a comedy that gets it all right. Saw this a while back, and I still get a smile on my face thinking back on it. David Wain was a smart play for director - he's got an aggressively non-commercial comedic style (see the brilliant Wet Hot American Summer, the very good The Ten, and his work on The State and Stella.) His very weird sensibility merges surprisingly well with the traditional aspects of the story, and makes for a big crowd-pleasing comedy that is not only easy to love but doesn't make you feel guilty for doing so.

Paul Rudd does his usual schtick but adds a welcome layer of anger and disappointment that looks great on him. Christopher Mintz-Plasse doesn't do a McLovin retread, and is actually really winning and funny, though he is blown off the screen by uber-talented "lil' black kid" Bobb'e J. Thompson. I thought after Seann William Scott's surprisingly terrific performance in The Promotion this year, he would bring some new magic to this role, but he's basically doing Stifler ten years later. Unbelievably, it's still funny. In fact, his "Monopoly" scene got the film's biggest laugh from me. Ooo, except for Jane Lynch, who plays the formerly-addicted-to-cocaine leader of the Big Brothers program. Sweet, sweet Jane Lynch. Easily among the five or so funniest women in comedy today, Lynch gets one of her largest roles here, and absolutely kills it. Former State-rs Joe Lo Truglio, Kerri Kenney, and Ken Marino do fine work as well. 

It's a surprisingly simple formula that gets messed up far too much. Write a funny script. Hire a funny director with an original point of view. Cast it with funny people. People laugh. It's a shame we don't see this type of thing more often.