The Interview Movie Review. Disappointing but Patriotic

Production Company: Columbia Pictures

Starring: Seth Rogen and James Franco

Director: Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg

Genre: Political Comedy

Running Time: 112 minutes

MPAA Rating: R

Rating: ★★★★★

Let’s face it, deep down we all want to see The Interview. Even my parents want to watch it. It’s not a common occurrence to have the President of the United States talking fervently about a film due to the controversy surrounding the subject matter. With Sony Pictures Studios getting hacked by North Korea over The Interview, it seems there are political ramifications involved. Word of mouth and the controversy surrounding The Interview might make you think this film is a brave, monumental movie, but it’s still just Seth Rogan and James Franco acting like idiots (and getting paid for it).

The Interview is about Dave Skylark (Franco), an eccentric talk show host who covers the gossip in the world, and his friend/producer Aaron Rapoport (Rogen) who is tired of not showing real news. When they hear Kim Jong-un (Randall Park), the leader of North Korea, is a fan of the show, Skylark and Rapoport set up an interview with him. Although, when the CIA learns about it, they persuade Skylark and Rapoport to assassinate Jong-un.

Whether willing to admit it or not, we all have high expectations for The Interview. When I was told about the controversy with hackers and the North Korean government trying to prevent me from viewing this film, I was willing to spend loads of money to watch the movie as part of my patriotic duty. Going into the film, I knew it would be a regular Rogen and Franco movie like The Pineapple Express or This Is The End, but the movie disappoints compared to those standards.

My biggest issue with The Interview is the movie completely misses the mark in regard to storytelling and landing jokes. A comedy is supposed to be funny, right? The ultimate reason the story is weak is due to a lack of motivation. Skylark and Rapoport have no real cause for killing Jong-un. These clowns don’t seem to care about political views, and aren’t taking Jong-un’s threats about blowing up the United States seriously (in spite of the CIA informing them North Korea has nukes pointed at America). The main characters in the film seem to mirror Rogen and Franco. Skylark and Rapoport are people in the media who want to be taken more seriously, which could be said for Rogen and Franco in regards to their filmmaking. Skylark and Rapoport aren’t the type to kill another human being, much less do it because the government orders them to. We spend the whole first act learning why Skylark and Rapoport want their show to be taken more seriously, which provides incentive for them to do the interview, but doesn’t give us validation for them to go along with the assassination. If the writers/directors wanted to emphasize a reason for Skylark and Rapoport to kill Jong-un, they should’ve spent more time on that motive and less on their ambitions to become sophisticated journalists. The screenwriters could’ve easily given the characters a real desire for killing a tyrant like Jong-un, but they sort of breeze over the topic. Although, the film kind of implies the main characters are being “honey-potted” (the possibility of having sex if they do what they are told) by an attractive CIA agent (Lizzy Caplan) and a North Korean official (Diana Bang), even that’s kind of a stretch.

When it comes to landing the jokes, their delivery is poor. I found the best part of the film was the beginning when Skylark interviews Eminem about his lyrics, but the movie goes steeply downhill from there. The Interview is full of vulgar and sometimes grotesque humor, and if had been done right, could have made for a better laugh, but the actors are totally off on their timing. Franco, who I like as an actor, has issues in particular. There are some ongoing jokes he tries to land, but the whole time it seems is on the verge of breaking character and laughing himself. It was like watching Jimmy Fallon when he was on SNL (FYI, I didn’t like Fallon until his stint on The Tonight Show). I probably could have forgiven that if the jokes were good in the first place, but they were just dumb. While Franco plays the kooky character, Rogen plays the annoyed, straight-laced character. Rogen gets himself in ridiculous situations that could be funny, but the scenes lack the set up for the gags to have that extra layer of humor. The movie really tries to use the shock factors and one-liners with a political edge, but nobody is giggling (other than maybe Franco between each cut) at the attempt.

What I did like about The Interview is the undertones of political issues the movie conveys without making it into a drama. It seems they wanted to piss a few people off when the film shows a North Korea culture blinded by a manipulating leader. Whether The Interview is accurate about these claims or not, they didn’t hold much back. Although, I was satisfied they didn’t shove the matter down our throats. It was interesting to see Rogen and Franco trying to bring a controversial topic with their screwball comedy.

Without the controversy, The Interview probably would’ve done badly in theatres. The characters are too hard to connect with, and in the end, the jokes just aren’t funny. In past films, Rogen and Franco’s stupid humor is usually a little clever, but this film doesn’t even have that to work with. If you want to feel a little patriotic, then watch this foolish film. If not, don’t waste your time and money.

For more information on The Interview, visit the movie’s website:

http://www.theinterview-movie.com

LIKE The Interview on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheInterview

Follow the movie on Twitter at http: https://twitter.com/theinterview

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Nick Polizzi

You might say I'm a firm believer in the Narrative Paradigm. I'm a storyteller. If I'm not watching a film, I'm reading a book or writing. Laughing is the most important thing in the world, so I do my best to infect everyone with humor. I also enjoy the stuff the cool kids like, but my true identity is a sarcastic, ordinary nerd who strives to be extraordinary.