Review of The Interview (2014) by Mark W — 17 Feb 2015

Such as simple premise for a film - parody North Korea and their crazy dictator, as well as the ridiculous tabloid culture of some "news" shows. Dave (Franco) is the talk show host and his best friend/producer Aaron (Rogen) get the chance to interview Kim Jong-un (Park) - a journalistic goldmine. Agent Lacey (Caplan) from the CIA then enlists them to "take him out" - plenty of mishaps then ensue!

This is Rogen & Goldberg's second co-directing effort (after 'This Is The End') and is much more assured - the jokes are freer, there's more laughs throughout, and the pacing is much faster and doesn't lull anywhere. Canada stands in for North Korea adequately enough and there's some good support cast, as well as great cameos from Eminem, Rob Lowe & Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

The ending has plenty of action/violence and gets a little ridiculous, but there's some really funny moments throughout, with Rogen playing a perfect foil to Franco's over-the-top-ness. Has the potential to be racist/offensive for no reason, but never is - just a film that enjoys itself pointing fun at humanity's often stupid emotions and decisions.