THE INTERVIEW

The Interview

Grade: C+

Starring: James Franco, Seth Rogen and Lizzy Caplan, with Randall Park as Kim Jong-Un and Diana Bang as Sook

Premise: A lively TV interviewer and his producer land a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to interview North Korea’s Supreme Ruler, only for the CIA to immediately recruit them for an assassination attempt on the dictator.

Rated R for constant crude, profane language (including graphic sexual references and racial and ethnic slurs), bloody violence, coarse humor, some sexuality, brief graphic nudity, and some drug content

I doubt it ever struck anyone in the majority of the world’s countries as anything but mere farce, but the broad 2014 comedy The Interview became a hot topic a few months ago when North Korea—the country that’s heavily ridiculed by the film—allegedly threatened terrorist attacks on the U.S. if the picture screened in theaters. It was almost immediately yanked from major theater chains, and there were rumors the film would never, ever, see the light of day, in any medium. But, amidst cries of patriotism (“American does not negotiate with or bend to the demands of terrorists!”), Hollywood muckraking (“you’re cowards if you don’t show the film”, dozens of celebrities tweeted), and social memes that were gleefully passed from person to person (“I can’t wait to see what movies North Korea lets me see this Christmas!”), the movie leaked out, first as a pirated property, then as a Video-On-Demand and limited release. It was something of a Must-See there for a while, just for the purpose of the thing (many people undoubtedly watched it believing their doing so was an act of patriotism for ‘Murica, or else one of defiance against North Korea). I had never truly wanted to see it—being a fan of neither James Franco nor Seth Rogen—even if the premise struck me as fairly intriguing, but, on yet another snowy, icy day this winter, I couldn’t help checking it out on Netflix to see just what all the fuss was about.

Absurd. That’s my instinctive one-word reaction to this socio-political hot topic. Utterly absurd. While you can't make the argument that no one should be upset by the film when it’s obviously supposed to just be silly escapist entertainment, The Interview is really quite harmless, a crass, lame-brained, feature-length version of a drunken party joke, one that is largely-cliché and embarrassingly-acted. I’d be tempted to call it the most outrageously-vulgar movie I’ve ever seen if I hadn’t seen star/director Rogen’s last comedy (Neighbors). Basically it pairs Rogen—doing his expletive-mumbling underachiever gag—alongside Franco—who does his patented weird, over-acting, wink-wink-I’m-smarter-than-this-but-I’m-doing-it-anyway shtick—and just wants to make anyone not from North Korea belly laugh while pointing an amused finger at the world’s most hostile dictator and his tight-lipped nation. A good idea? Hard to say. An intriguing premise? Sort of. A good movie? Ehhhh…

Plot

After years of producing a popular late-night talk show, TV executive Aaron Rapaport (Rogen, playing the straight man for once) hasn’t gained much respect, mainly because his show, Skylark Tonight, is a vehicle for flamboyant dufus Dave Skylark (Franco, in his most intolerable role ever) to exchange gossip with celebrities. The show is so low-brow that its idea of breaking news is a rapper admitting on the air that some of his blatantly homosexual lyrics point to the fact that he is actually a homosexual. Inexplicably, however, the show is watched by millions, including none other than the Supreme Ruler/Dictator of North Korea, Kim Jong-Un (a likeably-game Randall Park). Delighted by the idea that he could interview someone important and serious and look like a real journalist, Dave convinces reluctant Aaron to call the North Korean embassy and request an interview with Kim. Surprise! The interview is granted. And, within days, the CIA shows up on Aaron’s doorstep, with a sharp but comely agent (Lizzy Caplan) informing the men they are to be part of a plot to put the world’s most dangerous man out of commission.

Though disbelieving and then nervous at first, Dave and Aaron manage to grasp the basics of a surprisingly simple assassination plan, to poison the dictator by having a tiny pellet of a lethal substance penetrate his skin when he shakes Dave’s hand to start the interview. However, things go awry almost immediately, when Dave and Aaron are met by a stern female head of security, Sook (the winning Diana Bang), and a baggage check loses them their precious sample of poison. They manage to obtain another sample later, at great cost, by which time Sook has grown very suspicious of Aaron. Worse, Kim Jong-Un himself instigates a private audience with Dave, in which he shows Dave that is really a lonely-at-heart frat boy with daddy issues, a lot like Dave. If he wasn’t so pressured, Kim reckons, he could be free to drive hot cars, make out with hot women, drink, snort, and live the debauched lifestyle he craves. Touched, Dave begins to have second thoughts about attempting to kill the dictator, while Aaron is dogged consistently by the stern and forbidding Sook. As the big interview draws near, both men wonder if it really is worth trying to kill the man.

What Doesn’t Work?

The first flaw of the movie that comes to my mind is also its biggest—top-billed actor James Franco is absolutely insufferable in the role of Dave Skylark. I haven’t been a fan of the actor since he bombed in his major attempt at epic romantic drama/tragedy (2006’s Tristan & Isolde, in which he did nothing but brood and mope), but he gives one of the most maddeningly-awful performances I’ve ever seen in The Interview, even if it was probably the goofy leading performance co-Directors Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg were looking for. By turns fey, fussy, shrill, obnoxious and cloying, Dave is nails-on-a-chalkboard annoying for about 97 percent of his screen time, the last third of which he spends baby-talking to a puppy, to give you an idea. It’s distressing to think that the actor’s fans, and many Hollywood personalities, likely hailed the actor for his ‘fearless performance art’ here; Academy members should feel ashamed for ever considering this man for an Oscar (even if it was for his admittedly solid one-man-show in 127 Hours), let alone for letting him host the show (he was memorably ticked/embarrassed/stoned while co-hosting with Anne Hathaway back in 2010). Anyone, like me, who thinks of the actor as smug and overrated will have no reason to think or feel otherwise after watching this (note: I think his brother Dave, of Neighbors and the 21 Jump Street remake, is a much more talented comedian).

I probably shouldn’t have been surprised by this, but The Interview is vulgar to the max, beating the viewer over the head with words that starts with F, C, and P, or that consist most notably of letters like M and F. There’s not a hint of subtlety to be found in The Interview, whether it pertains to the movie’s politics, racial stereotyping, bromance, budding romance, or to the fact that Dave has the hots for the CIA agent (Caplan) who hired him. Its main characters are both nitwits, its antagonists are largely cliché, and, of course, it’s determined to make broad comedic fodder out of an entire country, its people, and its traditions. Mostly, The Interview is flat-out stupid.

What Works?

That said, in its best moments, The Interview manages a sort of rollicking entertainment factor, particularly in a wildly-over-the-top in-studio fight between Rogen and one of Kim’s cronies (I was howling with laughter during this scene), and an incident where Rogen has to retrieve a high-priority package and hide it from Korean sentries while Dave and the CIA both yammer in his ear (another doozy). The final action sequence is exciting, and the titular televised conversation, while played mostly for laughs or embarrassing farce, manages a modicum of actual suspense. It’s also worth noting that Rogen—as I said earlier, for once playing the straight man—is rather more watchable than usual here, even if it’s only because your options are him and the hamming-it-like-there’s-no-tomorrow Franco. It’s also commendable that the movie’s main attempts to develop “character” involve the two main Korean characters. Kim and Sook—played by western-raised actors born to Korean parents, Randall Park and Diana Bang, respectively—have hints of actual personalities, and motivations and feelings, even if every moment of actual decency is almost immediately followed by expletives or other wild bluster.

 Content

As I pointed out, The Interview is just about as lewd and crude as they come, notching bad words by the score and firing away with sexual references, sexist jokes, racist jokes, ethnic jokes, violent jokes, and other fairly insensitive material. This probably shouldn’t surprise anyone, but it’s worth noting. If they have tried to make a more serious movie out of this premise (not a straight drama, but a less goofy farce), The Interview could’ve really been something.

Bottom Line

You can’t argue that The Interview isn’t insulting to North Koreans, but this wild and crazy comedy farce is mostly a lightweight, goofy, vulgar-to-the-max party joke for party boys. James Franco gives one of the most annoying would-be comedic performances I’ve ever seen in my life, actually giving Seth Rogen a chance to seem endearing.  A couple Korean actors do well, too (isn’t it appropriate the movie’s most interesting and well-rounded character is Kim Jong-Un?). There’s definitely some laugh-out-loud stuff, but, even with all the support-freedom-of-speech, we-don’t-negotiate-with-terrorists, rah-rah hoopla that surrounded its release, The Interview is not even close to a Must-See movie. I just grabbed it on Netflix because I’m snowed and iced in, again.

The Interview (2014)

Directed by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen

Screenplay by Dan Sterling

Rated R

Length: 112 minutes