Smith aims for another hit with 'Zack and Miri'

by Caroline Basile, editor-in-chief

 

Known for making crude and vulgar hits such as “Clerks” and “Dogma,” writer and director Kevin Smith aims to set the bar again with his latest film “Zack and Miri Make a Porno.”

The film, which debuted in theaters on Oct. 31, tells the story of  two close  friends and roommates, Zack and Miri, who are strapped for cash and look to resolve that by making an adult film. But they discover that they have deeper feelings for each other.

While “Zack and Miri” is a story heavily laced with sexual themes, the main focus of the story is love, according to Smith, not pornography.

"I think most people will take this movie for what it is,” Smith said during a recent interview with the Plainsman Press. “I don't think they'll look at it and be like ‘Hey man, suddenly this is changing everything I've ever felt about the porn industry.’ I'm not looking to convert people. I'm just looking to entertain them with this one story.”

Starring Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks, “Zack and Miri” faced an NC-17 rating from the Motion Picture Association of America before an appeals commitee overturned the decision and gave the film an R rating.

"Initially, the MPAA gave us an NC-17 rating. and we tried working with them several times to get an R, but we took the appeals route and won." Smith said. “I guess because the word 'porno' appears in the title, they looked at this movie a lot more closely than they did ‘Clerks II.’"

While “Zack and Miri” is set in Pittsburgh, Penn., Smith cites growing up in New Jersey as an influence over how his films turn out.

“I think the area in New Jersey [Red Bank] where I grew up certainly affected the kind of dialogue that I write,” Smith said. “I write a rather frantic, candid dialogue peppered with a lot of vulgarity, because that's also my circle of friends and how I grew up. I imagine if I grew up anywhere, else it wouldn't be that much different.”

Smith has constantly praised the cast of “Zack and Miri,” especially Rogen.

"He is innately talented at ad-libbing material that sounds like it is organic to the film and character," Smith said of Rogen's acting skills. "Seth can ad-lib material that is absolutely usable and always sounds like it is coming from the character, Zack. And whatever he ad-libs always has to do with the scene, or he propels the story and scene forward. He's very selfless like that. He is always thinking about the story in general and the other actors in the scene with him.”

Growing up, Smith said he was not really interested in filmmaking until he was

almost an adult, after seeing the movie “Slacker” for the first time.

“When I was a kid, I never really thought about being a filmmaker because

that seemed like a job that people in Hollywood did,” Smith said. “I didn't know anyone

in Hollywood, and I didn't live in Hollywood, so it never seemed like an option. It wasn't until my 21st birthday when I saw Richard Linklater's film, ‘Slacker,’ that kind of opened me up to the world of independent film. I started immersing myself in it and seeing older stuff like early Spike Lee and Martin Scorsese films."

“Zack and Miri” is autobiographical for Smith in the sense it is based on a group of friends involved with do-it-yourself film making.

"If you scrape away the pornography, it really is kinda the story of how we made the movie “Clerks” to some degree,” Smith said of making “Zack and Miri.” “A bunch of knuckleheads who don't know anything get together and make a feature. The experience from making “Clerks”15 years ago definitely helped.”

Smith said that even after making films for 15 years, he thinks he has only started improving the way he produces, directs, and writes films.

"Only recently I've started to improve because I've put more thought into it," said Smith. "I'm not a born-film maker. It’s not in my DNA like it is for Scorsese or Paul Thomas Anderson."

Smith also said that as difficult as it might be to make a film, those who want to do it should do it their own way.

“Tell the story you want to tell, because at the end of the day, you’ve got to live with that flick for the rest of your life,” Smith added. “Just stick with your voice, because no one else has your voice, and no one else can do what you want to do.”