Review of The Interview (2014) by Michaeldn — 25 Dec 2014

This is not a political satire. It is a satire on the media. It is about how the media appeals to our emotions to get us to feel a certain way about certain things. It is about how our opinions on certain events are mainly driven by how the media portrays them.

This is a recurring idea throughout the movie, and it takes many forms. It criticizes the United States a lot more than you would think as well. The movie's screenplay deserves credit for its shrewd observations of the media and human emotions, and for its exciting story line.

The opening scene, a song, is simultaneously hilarious for its lyrical content, and chilling for its disturbing social implication. In terms of comedy, there are a few clever jokes written, but the comedy, while there is a lot of it, mainly comes from the performances, especially from James Franco and Randall Park, who also both perform well in their dramatic scenes.

The scene with the actual interview is one of my favorite scenes of the year. The movie deserves Oscar nominations for Franco, Park, and for the screenplay, but of course that will not happen, because the movie will be scoffed at by people who will never give it the credit it deserves simply because they will never be able to see past the fact that it is a James Franco / Seth Rogen comedy.