What's so funny!?

Zack and Miri make a porno is the new Seth Rogen film, directed and written by Kevin Smith. Smith is most famously known for directing Chasing Amy, Clerks and Dogma. The film received much controversy in the US for the word ‘porno’ being in the title, but Smith was adamant that it remain.

The Plot:
Zack (Seth Rogen) and Miri (Elizabeth Banks) are two friends that live together, who have known each other since the first grade. After having their power and water turned off, they meet gay porn star Brandon St. Randy (cameo by Justin Long) at their high school reunion and come up with the idea of making a porno to make the money back to pay off their debts. Assembling a motley crew of actors and film-makers, the pair try to make the porno after hours at Zack’s coffee shop and try to fight their burgeoning attraction.

The Review:
Zack and Miri make a porno is at it’s heart a romantic comedy with an excuse to have nudity and sex in it – which is not necessarily a bad thing. The film wears it heart on it’s sleeve and makes the most of the puerile humour it can out of such a premise. While the title suggests a racy film, it is usually the dialogue that gives it more zing than anything else.

However, while the verbal gags and interplay make for good laughs in the film, the non-joke part of the script and filming let the film down. The movement from platonic relationship to full-blown love between the two characters seems contrived and the resolution through a toilet door has been done and filmed better.

Highlight: Justin Long clearly enjoying his cameo as a gay porn-star.

Rating: 4/10

Ghost Town is the new film starring UK comedian Rick Gervais, Greg Kinnear and Tea Leoni. This is the first comedy directed by writer/producer/director, David Koepp. Koepp has been involved with writing some great films such as Carlito’s Way, Jurrasic Park, Panic Room, The Secret Window and the lastest Indiana Jones film. He has also directed tense thrillers such as The Secret Window & Stir of Echoes.

The Plot:
Bertram Pincus (Gervais) is a dentist, who really doesn’t like people. However, during a medical procedure he dies for a few minutes. Suddenly he finds he can see dead people who need him to help them complete their unfinished business. In particular, Frank (Kinnear) pesters him into breaking up the upcoming marriage of his widow Gwen (Leoni).

The Review:
The film is definitely not a Ricky Gervais production, which is not in itself a bad thing. Gervais is known as a great comedian for his series The Office and Extras as well as some successful stand up DVDs. His brand of humour has often examined social awkwardness and inappropriateness and I was bracing myself for such elements in this film. But this is a nicely scripted romantic comedy which has more heart than I expected, and impressed Gervais so much that it’s the first leading role he has chosen. The script keeps a tight rein on Gervais, but there are moments when he is allowed to flourish, adding great humour to scenes that would have suffered in the hands of a lesser comedian. Leoni adds nicely to the film and is a film-comedienne that has been sorely underutilised in the past.

Overall the film is not a laugh-fest, but more of a classic romantic comedy where the laughs are secondary to the story and leaves you with a warm fuzzy feeling at the end. A great date film.

Rating: 7/10

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is a light-hearted comedy starring the brilliant Frances McDormand (from Fargo and Friends with Money) and Amy Adams who recently starred in Enchanted and cut her comedy teeth in the Will Ferrel vehicle, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. The writers of the screenplay were responsible for such films as The Full Monty and Finding Neverland, while this is director Bharat Nalluri's first comedy, formerly a director of TV and documentaries (Tsunami: The Aftermath).

The Plot
The story is based on a 1938 novel and is set in London just before WWII. Miss Pettigrew (McDormand) is a middle-aged governess who has recently been dismissed from her job. Intercepting a job for someone else, she becomes the social secretary for up-and-coming actress, Delysia Lafosse (Adams). Lafosse sweeps up Pettigrew into the world of high society, where she is precariously moving between relationships with a producer's son (who can get her the lead role), a socialite (who has all the money she could want) and a charming gentleman with a dark past. Pushed out of her comfort zone, Pettigrew tries to come to terms with her new life while guiding her new charge.

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On a cold Saturday night in, my girl (Miss A) and I sat down to watch 'Last Holiday' starring Queen Latifah and LL Cool J.

Plot: The scene is fairly straight forward for a romantic comedy. Georgia Byrd (Latifah) is a shy, retail-working, god-loving woman who has always tried to live her life right. She has a talent for cooking divine food, but eats lean cuisine and is waiting for something big to happen in her life, even unable to even talk to her private crush (Cool J). Diagnosed with three weeks to live, she decides to finally do the things she's always wanted to do and flies to a plush European Hotel where her cooking idol works - Chef Didier (Depardieu - the quintessential Frenchman). There she meets the rich and powerful and is able to shed her shy, meek self and do and say all the things she's always wanted to.

This film is directed by Wayne Wang, responsible for 'Maid in Manhattan', but don't hold that against him as he is also responsible for the much better 'Joy Luck Club'. This film is largely buoyed by the warmth and charisma of Queen Latifah in the central role. The plot has been used many times before to good comic effect, however, the film risked devolving into schmaltziness as everyone falls in love with the liberated Georgia. Thankfully the film is given some depth as secondary characters such as Chef Didier are given the chance to flex some emotional muscle.

Overall this is a heart-warming comedy that has a bit more depth than your average 'play by the numbers' romantic comedies. A nice one to share with a loved one.

Rating: 6.5/10