Having been a longtime fan of writer-director Kevin Smith and a semi-longtime fan of writer-director-producer Judd Apatow, “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” initially seemed the perfect combination of both. A mix of Smith’s unique voice and off-the-wall stories and Apatow’s A-list gang of actors including Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks. However, the result is something that feels surprisingly contrived for the man behind such smooth efforts as “Clerks” and “Mallrats.”

The film is predictable from the get-go, as best buds Zack and Miri decide to make a low-budget porno flick to get themselves out of perpetual debt. But, and here’s the humdinger, Miri doesn’t want to have to have sex with a stranger so she and Zack decide to do the nasty for the first time in their decades of friendship for the sake of the porno. They simply promise not to let sex affect their friendship but as Harry and Sally taught moviegoers so many years before, such an option doesn’t exist and hilarity and heartbreak ensues.

As a Smith devotee, I’ve seen everything from “Clerks” and “Dogma” to his more touching work like “Chasing Amy” and “Jersey Girl”. My best guess is that the controversy that has surrounded this film, which took multiple tries to receive an R rating rather than an NC-17, made Smith feel the need to compensate in other areas and the result is uneven and unsatisfying in the face of my high expectations going in.

The opening 20 or so minutes are hilarious, such as when Zack and Miri attend their 10-year high school reunion only to discover that the boy of Miri’s teenage fantasies is now gay and dating a porn star (a hilarious cameo by Justin Long aka “Mac”). However, as Smith begins to dig below the surface, such as the brilliance that is his 1997 romantic comedy “Chasing Amy,” the dialogue feels over-the-top and slightly unbelievable. Thankfully the chemistry between Rogen and Banks, last previewed in “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” serves as a saving grace of sorts and will compel viewers to stick around until the closing credits even though most will be able to predict the ending much earlier in the two-hour film.

Those viewers unfamiliar with Smith’s repetoire will see the comedy as just a poor Apatow knockoff. The vulgarity and macho undertones of Apatow’s films are very similar to that of all of Smith’s work (minus “Jersey Girl,”) and the seamless blend of Apatow’s rotating players (Rogen, Banks, and Craig Robinson) and Smith’s favorites (Jason Mewes of “Jay and Silent Bob” fame and Jeff Andersen from “Clerks”) prove these two filmmakers are obviously cut from the same cloth. The one difference in their work, Smith’s less in-your-face style of sentimentality, is the one trait he abandons in the film although the explanation for this adjustment is unknown. Rather than subtly pull on audience’s heart strings, the second-half of the film feels more like Smith performing an all-out tug of war on your valves.

On that note, where’s the unexpected and totally awesome “Jay and Silent Bob” cameo I was hoping for?

“Zack and Miri” is still a truly funny yet also heartfelt comedy that will satisfy viewers’ cravings for laughs no matter how familiar they are with Smith’s work. However, those true “View Askew” fans know he’s delivered better, and will leave the theater with not only a sidepain or two but also a nagging wonder of what could have been.