Toronto Film Festival Dailies

Wednesday, September 10-------Only in America could a disheveled, overweight mumbler become a bonafide movie star. Seth Rogen, the pudgy star of the current hit Pineapple Express, as well as other box office sensations Knocked Up, The 40 Year Old Virgin and Superbad, may have found the director of his dreams in indie bad boy Kevin Smith (the auteur of such slacker hits as Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dazed And Confused and  Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back).

The Weinstein Company, run by the brothers who put the Miramax label on the map (but lost control of the company to Disney several years ago), may have their first major crossover hit with Zack And Miri Make A Porno, which is having its world premiere here at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Zack (Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) have been friends since youth, living like brother and sister in a rundown shared house. Zack's job as a coffee server doesn't exactly make him rich, so when both he and Miri hit their debt ceiling, they're forced to come up with another plan..... to make an adult film they can sell on the Internet of the two of them having sex.

Kevin SmithThis is edgy territory for a mainstream movie, and director Smith brings a wild-eyed indie sensibility to the goings-on that really pushes the envelope of acceptability. As these two life-long best friends prepare to take it all off for the cameras, the business of sex suddenly gets serious and for the first time some real sexual chemistry and true emotion gets revealed.

The film delights in being raunchy, outrageous and verbally explicit, and even includes a supporting performance by legendary porn star Traci Lords. But despite the yuks and the outresensibility, the film has a surprisingly touching undertone as it expands the boundaries of the romantic comedy tradition.

However, even with its sweet edge, the film is already generating controversy. The Motion Picture Association of America, who gives films their ratings, recently banned the poster for the film, which showed the two stars in split images, fully clothed, with a tuft of hair at the bottom at about crotch level. Despite the MPAA, the original poster is in abundant display around the city of Toronto. In an interview in Entertainment Weekly magazine, Smith, who is attending the premiere here in Toronto, commented: "I've always loved Canada and Canadians for giving us hockey. Now I love them just a little bit more -- for allowing tufts of hair." As the kids would say, Kevin Smith rules.....

Sandy Mandelberger, Toronto FF Dailies Editor