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The Interview - Movie Review

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2 stars

Call me a fascist. Call me un-American. Call me what you will but The Interview is not a good comedy. I’m all for free speech but there are much better films to spend your money and your time on involving political assassination attempts. Try Woody Allen’s Bananas or The Marx Brothers Duck Soup before sitting on this muted whoopee cushion. Hell, it’s the holidays! Spend time with your family. Just don’t waste a dime on The Interview.

Having finally seen it in the comfort of my own home – after a series of unfortunate events regarding its release and cancelled screenings – I am more certain than ever that the Sony hack was an inside job and not an international event involving North Korea. While truth is stranger than fiction, this whole thing, involving three crisis management firms and the FBI, reeks. Sony knows they have a bomb – pun intended – on their hands. I have long been a champion of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s ideas but, “aided” here by screenwriter Dan Sterling, not seeing The Interview is probably the most patriotic thing you could do this Holiday Season.

The Interview – even before the hype and propaganda - was a film I was looking forward to but even I could tell from the trailers that something seemed a bit odd about it. To be truthful, The Interview is lacking … everything that I usually respond to in a Rogen and Goldberg-generated comedy. The teaming (once again) of James Franco and Rogen doesn’t feel natural. It is, in fact, largely witless; it’s as if too many situations are forced as an entertainment reporter and his producer get caught up in an international incident involving the CIA-driven assassination of North Korea’s President Kim Jong Un, played by Randall Park (who is, of course, the film’s best weapon in this “political” farce).

There are a lot of things “off” with this gross-out buddy romp full of dick-a-minute jokes and offensive Asian accents. If Rogen isn’t shoving air-dropped assassination devices up his butthole, he’s busy trying too hard to convince Franco that North Korea’s Supreme Leader really is a bad dude with a fistful of nukes. Franco, who agrees to do North Korea’s question-approved interview if only to score with Lizzy Caplan, is convinced – after an initial “hang out” session with Kim – that he is just a misunderstood Katy Perry fan with daddy issues.

Outside of Park as the Supreme Leader, the originating setup for The Interview – featuring hilarious cameos from Rob Lowe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Eminem – is the only thing that works about this film. The rest is just rectal rocket nonsense and hit-and-miss 007 parody. Satire this is not. Hell, even the anally-fixated bromance shtick of Rogen and Franco is a bit stale throughout. At close to two hours, The Interview could have used a better editor, too. Closing in on 120 minutes - with a script this witless - is far too long; get in and get out, boys.

The broad film tropes Rogen and Goldberg usually subvert (see Pineapple Express, This is The End, or Superbad) have been tromped on by the weakest link in their formula – the script by Sterling – who builds everything on a concept with no return investment. It’s “lights out” for this stoner comedy that, all too quickly, has nowhere but down to go.

The Interview, and I am putting this as nicely as I can, is half-baked.

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[tab title="Film Details"]

The Interview - Movie Review Review

MPAA Rating: R for pervasive language, crude and sexual humor, nudity, some drug use and bloody violence.
Runtime:
112 mins
Director
: Seth Rogen; Evan Goldberg
Writer:
Dan Sterling
Cast:
James Franco, Seth Rogen, Randall Park
Genre
: Comedy
Tagline:
From the Western Capitalist Pigs Who Brought You "Bad Neighbors" and "This Is the End".
Memorable Movie Quote: "You want us to assassinate the leader of North Korea."
Distributor:
Columbia Pictures
Official Site: http://theinterviewmovie.tumblr.com/
Release Date:
December 25, 2014
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
No details available.
Synopsis: Trailer for The Interview. After being called a sellout for covering tabloid news, Aaron (Seth Rogen) finds a way to redeem his career by accepting an interview with Kim Jong-un with entertainment partner Dave (James Franco).

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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]

No details available.

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[tab title="Trailer"]

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