2008 / Kevin Smith > Has Smith always been mushy and we’ve just not noticed it because of all the vulgarity? After all, who can forget the mushiest of all rain sequences ever made in Chasing Amy? But hey, it’s completely normal to have banter filled with obscenities with your loved ones. It’s a part of life that’s never usually reflected properly in films due to the inevitable marriage of a PG or PG-13 rating to every romantic comedy possible. (This is partially why Four Weddings and a Funeral was such a winner.) But hey, Smith does it proper for the most part: Zack and Miri Make a Porno is often hilarious, sometimes charming even if it’s incredibly, ridiculously predictable from the first minute. Smith’s still got some of his quirks up the sleeve, but the film doesn’t match the overall wittiness of either Clerks II or Chasing Amy. The best part may be the revelation that is Elizabeth Banks. I’ve always liked her, but this was really something special, as if she’s finally coming into her own: Sweet, endearing and possessing just the right amount of vulnerability.