The Interview Review

Hey, North Korea, you really could have saved yourself a lot of time and trouble and just let this one pass. It likely would have fizzled out based on its’ own merit rather than having the help of an entire news cycle controversy to drive up sales.

James Franco and Seth Rogen belong in better movies than the likes of this. They’re both fine actors, capable of fine performances, but with stuff like this they are powerless to overcome the material.

This movie is basically Pineapple Express: North Korea suxxorz edition, with half the originality and none of the laughs.

Franco plays Skylark, a controversial entertainment talk show host who makes his living off of Miley Cyrus nip slips and discovering who is coming out of the closet from week to week. Rogen is his best friend and producer who makes sure every bit of the show goes as planned.

When Skylark lands a big TV interview with Kim Jong Un, he becomes a laughing stock to most of the US media, but the CIA, who in this movie are basically portrayed as incapable roobs, decide to “honeyput” Skylark with their sexiest agent in order to convince him to murder the dictator.

It’s a commentary on the times we live in that such a premise is so controversial. This is the kind of baloney that the 1980s were built upon.

This movie occasionally recreates some of that charm, especially in the final battle scene which made me think of Bill Murray and “Stripes” but for the most part it’s just a one note ensemble.

Skylark is an egotistical idiot, Rogen looks bored playing his handler. I found this one a chore to sit through. As one RT review wrote, “There’s a good point to be made about how journalists can be co-opted by access to the powerful people they’re supposed to be holding accountable. Unfortunately, Rogen and Goldberg aren’t the filmmakers to make this point.”

The Interview gets a two out of five: FORGETTABLE.