Review of The Interview (2014) by Rob S — 24 Jul 2015

We open with a North Korean girl singing some pretty crude and ridiculous things about the U.S., and so we know the movie will not be that funny from the start.

Though Franco is more suited for comedy than drama (what was with that 127 Hours nomination?) we see from his first scene in the film with Eminem that he is overacting in order to pull off the role of this ridiculous talk-show host (by the way, I may be biased as a huge Eminem fan but this is the funniest scene in the movie, mostly on Eminem's and Rogen's part, and not on Franco's part by any means.) Shortly after we hear the first of a series of many Lord of the Rings references in the film, showing us the comedy will rely on random references or jokes instead of situational comedy. This idea is confirmed as the film progresses and a motif appears about whether or not Kim Jong Un has a butthole.... yeah.

In order to create an internal struggle for Dave Skylark, the directors decide to humanize Un and have him bond with Dave in the stupidest ways ever including both of them enjoying Katy Perry and margaritas. Yeah, because I would immediately make best friends with an enemy if they enjoyed Tarantino films.

One thing I like is how this film functions as a meta-film as we see spectators watching the titular interview while we are spectators watching the film itself. The interview itself is a good scene where there is a sort of mind battle between Skylark and Un.

This film had too much of James Franco's overacting, and I would have liked to see more of Rogen's character, but I enjoyed a laugh every now and then.