After all the controversy recently in regards to the Sony hacking, we finally get to watch The Interview and see what all the fuss was about. The Interview review right here on Screen Critix.
The controversy surrounding the new Seth Rogan and James Franco comedy The interview has been the largest in films for quite some time. A mega corporation like Sony being attacked by hackers and leaving their emails and secrets online for all to see, has been the biggest news story around the world for weeks leading up to Christmas. The Hackers threatened any cinema chains who would show the film, forcing Sony to pull the movie from the intended Christmas Day release. A U-turn was then made and The Interview hit the internet yesterday, making over $1 million in a day.
James Franco plays Dave Skylark, a slow chat show host known for getting celebrity gossip more than more topical stories. Skylark’s producer Aaron Rappaport (Seth Rogan) is determined to make the Skylark show more professional when a story drops in regards to Kim Jong Un being a fan of the show. Rappaport touches base with North Korea and states that Skylark would love to interview the North Korean dictator on his show, of which Jong Un accepts.
As the interview is the biggest coup in journalistic history, the American Government approach Skylark and Rappaport and ask them to assassinate Jong Un, which will then stop the imminent nuclear threat.
Let’s be frank here, The Interview shouldn’t offend anyone in terms of degrading North Korea, as it is just a work of fiction and a parody. People should be offended by the way this film is described as being a comedy, as it is not funny. Like the god-awful This Is The End, Rogan, fellow director Evan Goldberg and screenwriter Dan Sterling once again resort to toilet humour, filling the runtime with endless penis, vagina and butt jokes in order to raise a smile, yet it fails miserably. It feels like the gang have had their best times in Super Bad and The 40 Year Old Virgin and now they need to go back to the drawing board.
Franco is wasted in films such as this. He can act as seen in 127 Hours, but his resume is looking worse and worse every time he signs up for a Pineapple Express or a The Interview. Saying that, his line when comparing the Kim Jong Un interview to that of the infamous “Frosty Nixon” did give me a little chuckle.
The Interview will amuse teenagers but will be hated by the majority of the world, never mind North Korea.