Perhaps the first film to take advantage of the current bad economy to sell its premise, Zack and Miri Make a Porno is about two friends so broke they decide to make a porno. Not to get rich; just in the hopes that all their old high school classmates will buy it and make them enough money to catch up on all their bills.

“Everybody wants to see anybody f—,” Zack explains to his platonic roommate and best friend Miri. “I hate Rosie O’Donnell, but if someone said, ‘I’ve got a tape of Rosie O’Donnell getting f—ed stupid,’ I’d be like, ‘why the f— aren’t we watching that right now?’” Hard to argue with that logic.

Yeah, as you might have been able to tell from the title, Zack and Miri doesn’t shy away from the raunch, nudity, and constant string of expletives. What it does shy away from, surprisingly, is that it’s written and directed by Kevin Smith, the indie superstar who made the six movies co-starring Jay and Silent Bob, starting with the ultra-low-budget Clerks in 1994.

Smith’s name is conspicuously absent from all the TV ads, although for my two cents that’s smart: he’s build up a niche audience, but it’s still only a niche audience, and Zack and Miri is clearly swinging for the Judd Apatow-controlled fences. There’s no Jay and Silent Bob (although Jay, Jason Mewes, does appear in another role), the film is more polished (Smith used to just throw his actors in front of the camera, but now seems to be making the effort to actually set up shots), and it even steals most of its cast from Apatow’s movies — from Rogen and Banks to supporting roles featuring Craig Robinson (Knocked Up), Gerry Bednob (The 40-Year-Old Virgin), and Justin Long (Walk Hard).

The film initially seems to be suffering from this mild identity crisis with a so-so first fifteen minutes. But quickly, it finds its footing, starting when Zack and Miri go to their ten-year high school reunion after their heat, water, and electricity are all turned off. There they meet Long, the boyfriend of one of their male classmates (another famous face, although I’m not sure why I’m hiding his identity, because he appears in the opening credits), who makes his living as a gay porn star. Long’s character’s name is Brandon, but come to think of it, “Justin Long” sounds like a gay porn star’s name, too.

That encounter is what gives Zack the idea to make his own porno, and once he convinces Miri they’re off and running, which includes rounding up a team of producers, cameramen, and actors, and of course, falling in love along the way. As in 2006′s Clerks II, underneath all the R-rated fun, Smith is a sap who just wants