For Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal, carnal desires wrecked their characters' friendship, reducing a previously rock solid relationship to a morass of anger, regret and razor-sharp one-liners, until the final denouement.

Writer-director Kevin Smith considers the very same question in this hysterical relationship comedy, which is every bit as filthy-minded and profane as the title suggests. Yet for all the obscenities and perversity, Zack And Miri Make A Porno is incredibly sweet and romantic as it brings together two best friends who love one another - but don't yet realize it.

This is truly a return to sparkling form for Smith; a spunky and salacious companion piece to Clerks and Chasing Amy that manages to walk and talk sex without seeming sleazy.

Characters are willing and impressively able participants in the sauciness, so we laugh with them not at them as they overcome budgetary restrictions and myriad misfortunes to give their all in the name of low-budget enterprise.

The smoldering screen chemistry between lead stars Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks is a key factor.

Whether their eponymous misfits are behaving like drunken fools at a high school reunion or wreaking havoc in a bathroom that has just run out of running water, we adore them and wait expectantly for the moment destiny opens their eyes to their true feelings. Childhood pals Zack (Rogen) and Miri (Banks) can't afford any of their utility bills and are months in arrears with the rent.

In a moment of genius masquerading as desperation, Zack hits upon a novel solution to their cash flow problems: they could make an adult film.

"Miriam Linky, will you have sex with me on camera?" proposes Zack.

"I will," grins his pretty cohort.

A rag tag film crew including a gun-chewing cameraman (Jeff Anderson), impressively proportioned leading man (Jason Mewes), brazen co-star Bubbles (Traci Lords) and breast-obsessed producer (Craig Robinson) assembles at the coffee house where Zack works to throw together the masterpiece in record time.

Zack And Miri is a riot, with a surprising yet welcome tenderness and honesty underlying some hilarious gross-out moments involving constipation and a hand-warming pad.

The lovable Rogen and Banks are ably supported by a strong ensemble cast, including Justin Long in scene-stealing form as a bona fide adult film star who tells his closeted partner (Brandon Routh), "I will be your sherpa up the mountain of gayness."

Dialogue is littered with profanities, eliciting a guilty chuckle and occasionally a groan of disgust.

The ending is obvious from the opening frames but the fun comes from trying to work out how Smith will contrive his happy-ever-after, and more importantly, what bodily fluids might be spilt in the process.

DAMON SMITH
PORN TO BE WILD: Elizabeth Banks, Justin Long and Seth Rogen star in romcom Zack And Miri Make A Porno

The game's up for Max Payne
Max Payne (15) **

"I don't believe in heaven. I believe in pain, I believe in fear, I believe in death," growls the titular, gun-toting hero in voiceover at the beginning of John Moore's tiresome video game-to-movie adaptation.

Audiences will certainly believe in pain - and boredom and frustration - as the vengeance-seeking cop plods wearily through a plot that straddles reality and drug-induced fantasy on the crime-riddled streets of New York City.

First-time screenwriter Beau Thorne sketches a familiar tale of murder and redemption without any of the excitement or relentless, adrenaline-pumping action of the small screen source material.

He opens with the supposed drowning of the main protagonist then flashes back one week to chart events leading up to Max's tumble into the frozen water.

The twists, if they can be called that, are signposted so far in advance, it becomes laughable that characters can't see what is staring them in their blank faces.

Mark Wahlberg is inexpressive as the eponymous good cop on a mission, shooting first and thinking later, if at all, as Moore's film builds to a lacklustre final showdown on the rooftop of a skyscraper in the middle of a snowstorm.

Police officer Max Payne (Wahlberg) returns home to find his wife Michelle (Marianthi Evans) and baby daughter slain by an intruder.

Unable to rest until he unmasks the killer, Max scours every open case file and draws comfort and inspiration from his mentor BB (Beau Bridges), who urges patience.

A tip-off leads to a nightclub where Max meets beauty Natasha (Olga Kurylenko) and her sister Mona (Mila Kunis).

The former dies in an alleyway and police units discover Max's stolen wallet at the scene, fingerprinting him for the gruesome crime.

While Max tries to clear his name and outrun Internal Affairs Detective Jim Bravura (Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges), the real culprit - tormented soldier of war Jack Lupino (Amaury Nolasco) - seeks out the people closest to the renegade cop, including good friend Alex (Donal Logue).

Fans of the Max Payne games will recognize characters and certain plot elements, like the conspiracy surrounding an experimental drug that drives users to the brink of insanity.

The film also employs the slow motion bullet time effect, which was a key factor of the video game's appeal, bending time and the laws of physics to achieve the most visually arresting results.

However, Moore's film is a poor substitute for the visceral slam-bang that comes from grabbing a controller and taking charge of the hero yourself.
DAMON SMITH


Germany revisits complex past of Baader Meinhof gang
The Baader Meinhof Complex (18) ****

Freedom of expression and the freedom of peaceful assembly are cornerstones of western civilisation, set down in The European Convention On Human Rights.

The people have a voice and they should be allowed to use it - to decry injustice or hold those in power to account.

In June 1967, a demonstration in Berlin against the state visit of the Shah of Persia descended into chaos when baton-wielding police apparently charged the protesters, causing crowds to spill onto the streets.

One young man was needlessly shot and killed by police, galvanizing mounting support for the anti-authoritarian, anti-capitalist student movement, which vehemently opposed Germany's perceived support of American imperialism during the Vietnam war.

Radicals within the movement formed their own splinter group and the Red Army Faction (RAF) was born, comprising armed resistance fighters with a propensity for violence to challenge the country's political status quo.

The Baader Meinhof Complex relives this turbulent era in recent German history, based on the celebrated book by Stefan Aust.

Opening with a shocking recreation of the 1967 clash between police and protesters, Uli Edel's film tries to remain at a distance from the characters, neither judging nor celebrating them as their reckless actions reap terrible consequences.

Left-wing journalist Ulrike Meinhof (Martina Gedek), who writes stirring reports on the stormy political climate, is a founding member of the RAF.

She becomes disillusioned with the student movement's inability to effect lasting change and aligns herself instead with Andreas Baader (Moritz Bleibtreu) and his girlfriend Gudrun Ensslin (Johanna Wokalek).

Leaving behind her children, Ulrike joins the other founding members in El Fatah, Jordan, where they undergo intensive conditioning at a Palestinian military training camp.

The students return home to Berlin and put their newfound skills to use, robbing banks and wreaking havoc in the capital.

As the body count rises and the media turns against the RAF, Horst Herold (Bruno Ganz) from the German police force marshals his officers to arrest the ringleaders and quell the uprising.

Selected by Germany as its official entry for the 2009 Academy Awards as Best Film In A Foreign Language, The Baader Meinhof Complex is an impressive if somewhat exhausting history lesson.

Edel's direction cannot be faulted, especially in the key set pieces such as the assassination of Rudi Dutschke or Andreas' capture after a standoff with the police.

The film dodges the conspiracy theories surround-ing the deaths of RAF members in solitary confinement.
DAMON SMITH