THE INTERVIEW

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2 stars
Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, who previously co-directed 2013’s This Is The End, have collaborated once again in bringing another grossly overblown piece of nonsense to the big screen.
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This flight of fantasy though is a case of art imitating life, sort of - cast your mind back to the 2013 ‘love-in’ between the flamboyant NBA star Dennis Rodman and the supreme leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea, Kim Jong-un. The premise of The Interview probably evolved from that real-life meeting and, one imagines, after a few wild get-togethers between the writers (oh to have been a fly on the wall during those sessions!) the script was developed.

Dave Skylark (James Franco – Of Mice And Men) is a sleazy tabloid talk-show host who has worked with his buddy Aaron Rapaport (Seth Rogen – Bad Neighbours) for years. Their TV interview program, Skylark Tonight, is not unlike the fodder you see on Australian TV disguised as current affairs. After Dave’s interview with Eminem no less, who ‘comes out’ during the show, their ratings soar but a chance meeting with an old college buddy makes Aaron question the validity of their accomplishments. The irony here being that his ‘friend’ says that he would never get a foot in the door of 60 Minutes, as though that was the epitome of quality TV journalism! Still, compared to Fox News… but we digress.

Soon, however, a call from a North Korean official reveals that the supreme leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un (Randall Park – Bad Neighbours), is in fact a fan of Dave’s and the ‘dear leader’ would be prepared to be interviewed – on his terms. Suddenly Aaron can see a place for himself in the upper ranks of US television journalists, so he and Dave prepare to fly off to Pyongyang. Before they depart, however, they are contacted by C.I.A operative Agent Lacey (Lizzy Caplan – 127 Hours), who convinces the pair to take part in a plan to assassinate the North Korean dictator. And so begins their preposterous journey.

The scenes between Franco and Park are quite funny as they bond a la Rodman and the real Kim; they get drunk and go on a rampage in a tank while listening to Katy Perry at full volume, they get down and dirty with a bevy of beauties, they party like a couple of frat boys and, most importantly, they share their innermost secrets. Franco seems to almost channel his role as Alien in Springbreakers - one half expected him to yell, “Look at all mah shit” in reference to the excessiveness of their gross games.

On the flip side, it doesn’t all work and a lot of the scenes between Rogen and Franco fall flat and are at times excruciating to watch. The humour is overtly hetero-male, although some of their pathetic jibes are quite revealing and, if you care to examine the subtext you could conclude that they are really having a subliminal go at American TV news as a whole and the role of journalists in perpetuating US propaganda. But hey, that might spoil the fun! Another negative aspect of The Interview is the use of violence; it’s over-the-top comic, yes, but it seems out of place coming, as it does, towards the movie’s end when really most of what we’ve seen up until then has been very broad and almost slapstick.

In reality, the most interesting thing to come from The Interview was the hacking of Columbia Pictures’s parent company, Sony, by North Korea and the publicity that was generated when the film was subsequently pulled from its original US release dates. Perversely, that action has probably increased this pretty ordinary film’s box office revenue. Now that’s something shareholders should thank the North Korean dictator for!

// SALT

Previewed at Event Cinemas, George St, Sydney, on 9 February 2015

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STARRING
Seth Rogan
James Franco
Lizzy Caplan
Randall Park
Diana Bang

DIRECTOR
Evan Goldberg
Seth Rogan


SCREENWRITER
Dan Sterling

COUNTRY
USA

CLASSIFICATION
MA15+

RUNTIME
112 minutes

AUSTRALIAN
RELEASE DATE
February 12, 2015
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The Interview (2014) on IMDb
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