The Interview -- as anyone who's paid attention to the news lately knows -- is a movie satire that was briefly banned due to threats from hackers, purportedly backed by North Korea. So, it is no small irony that the over-the-top comedy's actual theme is freedom of speech – specifically, freedom of the press.
Seth Rogen co-writes, co-directs and co-stars as Aaron Rapoport, a news producer who once aspired to be an investigative journalist. Instead, he has spent his career working for Dave Skylark (James Franco), the vacuous host of a tabloid interview show. When Skylark discovers that his fan base includes none other than the dictator of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, he and his producer pursue and – to their astonishment – succeed in securing an interview with the despot. Skylark sees a chance for ratings and Rapoport sees a chance to gain legitimacy. But it's the CIA who sees an opportunity to have the hostile leader taken out. Lizzy Caplan plays the intelligence operative who convinces the Americans to discreetly deliver a dose of poison to Kim.
Predictably, Aaron and Dave turn out to be bumbling assassins and the plot to kill Kim goes awry. Seeing the well-established comedy team of Rogen & Franco stumble through what would otherwise be a straightforward espionage thriller evokes memories of Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase in the '80s comedy Spies Like Us. This film, however, derives laughs less from spoofing spy movies and more from gross-out gags. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I laughed plenty of times during The Interview. Like most people, though, I had to watch the movie at home through a streaming service and I couldn't help but think it would've been a more enjoyable experience in a theater surrounded by fellow moviegoers. Laughter, as they say, is contagious. That said, if you enjoyed the crude humor employed by Rogen and co-director Evan Goldberg in their previous films (Superbad, This Is the End), then you'll enjoy the jokes in this movie.
Many of those jokes involve the filmmaker's cartoon caricature of the dictator. Randall Park plays Kim as a spoiled rich kid who happens to possess nuclear weapons. Though his dark side is shown, the movie spends less time on his evil deeds and more time portraying him as a Katy Perry-loving buffoon with serious daddy issues. If the movie does in fact does bother the real Kim Jong-un, one can see why. As Moliere said, "One might be willing to be wicked; one cannot bear to appear foolish." The movie turns slightly more serious late in the game as Skylark discovers his inner Mike Wallace. We're given a parable of the power of journalism and a reminder of the importance of being able to confront leaders with tough questions. The movie is called The Interview for a reason. It turns out the most devastating weapon the movie's heroes wield is not poison, but rather, the truth.
In the end, though, The Interview is a comedy. The concept of two idiots being entrusted with the task of eliminating one of the United States' greatest geo-political threats is inherently absurd. But since the movie itself has wound up at the center of an international incident, the idea seems a little less like a joke. And that may be the funniest thing of all.
Seth Rogen co-writes, co-directs and co-stars as Aaron Rapoport, a news producer who once aspired to be an investigative journalist. Instead, he has spent his career working for Dave Skylark (James Franco), the vacuous host of a tabloid interview show. When Skylark discovers that his fan base includes none other than the dictator of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, he and his producer pursue and – to their astonishment – succeed in securing an interview with the despot. Skylark sees a chance for ratings and Rapoport sees a chance to gain legitimacy. But it's the CIA who sees an opportunity to have the hostile leader taken out. Lizzy Caplan plays the intelligence operative who convinces the Americans to discreetly deliver a dose of poison to Kim.
Predictably, Aaron and Dave turn out to be bumbling assassins and the plot to kill Kim goes awry. Seeing the well-established comedy team of Rogen & Franco stumble through what would otherwise be a straightforward espionage thriller evokes memories of Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase in the '80s comedy Spies Like Us. This film, however, derives laughs less from spoofing spy movies and more from gross-out gags. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I laughed plenty of times during The Interview. Like most people, though, I had to watch the movie at home through a streaming service and I couldn't help but think it would've been a more enjoyable experience in a theater surrounded by fellow moviegoers. Laughter, as they say, is contagious. That said, if you enjoyed the crude humor employed by Rogen and co-director Evan Goldberg in their previous films (Superbad, This Is the End), then you'll enjoy the jokes in this movie.
Many of those jokes involve the filmmaker's cartoon caricature of the dictator. Randall Park plays Kim as a spoiled rich kid who happens to possess nuclear weapons. Though his dark side is shown, the movie spends less time on his evil deeds and more time portraying him as a Katy Perry-loving buffoon with serious daddy issues. If the movie does in fact does bother the real Kim Jong-un, one can see why. As Moliere said, "One might be willing to be wicked; one cannot bear to appear foolish." The movie turns slightly more serious late in the game as Skylark discovers his inner Mike Wallace. We're given a parable of the power of journalism and a reminder of the importance of being able to confront leaders with tough questions. The movie is called The Interview for a reason. It turns out the most devastating weapon the movie's heroes wield is not poison, but rather, the truth.
In the end, though, The Interview is a comedy. The concept of two idiots being entrusted with the task of eliminating one of the United States' greatest geo-political threats is inherently absurd. But since the movie itself has wound up at the center of an international incident, the idea seems a little less like a joke. And that may be the funniest thing of all.