In the figurative sense, that is. Kevin Smith has an interesting ability to really write whatever he wants I think. Clerks II is different from Chasing Amy, is different from Dogma, is different from Jersey Girl, is different from Zack and Miri, and I suspect Red State could be the movie that proves he isn't constrained to any particular genre.
Zack and Miri is being commented on as a "chubby guy nails hot chick" movie, but I don't think it's that at all. I think it's a, "Dude nails his woman friend after years of friendship" flick. The difference is huge, and it sure hits home for me because most of my best friends throughout my life have been female. This was particularly true in college, and of course I wanted to see them naked. One I even did, and you bet it changed things.
But for me, the impetus wasn't that I was making a porno to raise money. That obviously inspires all kinds of hilarity. Seth Rogen plays pretty much the same character he always does, but believe it or not, Elizabeth Banks shows some depth well beyond the "put it in my butt" role of The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Miss Brant in Spiderman. I figured there had to be something there after her role on Scrubs, and I have to say that she's really grown on me.
Rounding out the cast, Justin Long ("I'm a Mac") plays the best gay porn star ever, and completely steals his scenes from Brandon "Superman" Routh. Jason Mewes plays someone a little different from Jay, though I could do without the full frontal nudity. Traci Lords is pretty funny, as is the Indian guy from Virgin with the potty mouth. The guy playing the "angry black guy" role, for which there seems to be one in every Kevin Smith movie, was OK, but I don't know what I've seen him in. I think he's mostly a TV guy.
As is the case with a lot of Smith's movies, they set the bar high with great dialogue and a lot of vulgar banter up front, but ease into a romantic or warm and fuzzy story by the end. I dig that. I think that's how real life is. There are lots of dick and fart jokes, but at the end of the day, when you stop laughing for a moment, you love.
And I loved the movie. It's a romantic comedy the way that men would write them (or perhaps should). I suspect women would love it too, because even though they might not admit it, they probably want to bone their male friends at times as well. Unfortunately, Diana didn't get to see it, because big screens and the vertigo issues aren't a good mix, but I can't wait for her to see it.
Definitely one of my favorite movies this year.
"...but I don't know what I've seen him in."
He has been in a lot of recent comedies, in albeit small parts though.
He was in Knocked Up as the doorman at the club that calls the one woman "old," along with being in Pineapple Express and Walk Hard. Mostly known for his character on The Office though.