The Interview
Here we go boys.
If you haven’t heard the story behind The Interview, it is one worth looking into. Basically, Sony cancelled the theatre release of the movie due to threats they received from an organization that opposed the film.
If you wanna check learn about this in more detail, you can listen to an episode of my podcast dedicated to the subject here.
Long story short, Sony released the movie on Youtube, and later on Amazon for people to view in the comfort of their homes.
After the trouble this movie went through to get released, I knew I had to watch it, and I’m happy to report that I thoroughly enjoyed it.
SPOILERS ahead.
Plot
The Interview is the latest ridiculous comedy starring James Franco and Seth Rogen. In it, famous talk show host Dave Skylark (Franco) and his producer Aaron Rapaport (Rogen) travel to North Korea to interview and assassinate Kim Jong-un.
Now you know why some people hate this movie.
Other than that basic concept, The Interview has a very diverse and hilarious plot line. After the CIA enlists Dave and Aaron, everything goes wrong. Chaos ensues.
I think I can best describe the craziness of the plot by describing the beginning middle and end.
Beginning: A hilarious interview with Eminem
Middle: Basketball with Kim Jong-un
End: Explosions
Now if that isn’t an interesting list of events, I don’t know what is. Plus, the scenes in between those I noted above are all wonderfully executed.
What I love about the comedy in The Interview was the use of running jokes. Rogen and Franco use several select jokes that make re-appearances throughout the movie, getting funnier and funnier along the way. It never got obnoxious and was always delivered expertly.
Acting/Dialogue
James Franco and Seth Rogen are incredibly underrated. Both of them have massive amounts of talent, and I honestly think they simply enjoy making movies. Regardless of quality or topic, Rogen and Franco are a power couple, and their performances in this film are as good as ever.
Also noteworthy is the performance of Randall Park as Kim Jong-un. He is simply hysterical. Every moment he is in the movie from the point he makes his first entrance is captivating.
My only complaint about the overall script was the conversations between Franco and Rogen. Whenever these two argue (which happens a lot), the result is usually Franco babbling on about something stupid and Rogen screaming, “Shut Up!”
While sometimes this is funny, most of the time it is just ridiculous and by the end became a bit repetitive.
Seth Rogen does have a great scream though.
Action/SFX
The Interview is full of action scenes that are designed to be as ridiculous as possible. There is one scene in which Rogen and a North Korean soldier are fighting, and they keep biting off each other’s fingers. The entire film is full of WTF moments like that.
As far as special effects go, everything looks just good enough. While I think that most of the props in the movie were practical, all the CGI is… fine.
Award Time!
Best Performance: Randall Park as President Kim
Best Running Joke: The Lord of the Rings references
Best WTF Moment: The little kids playing guitars… You’ll know when you see it.
Conclusion
After all The Interview went through, it deserves to be watched. I give The Interview an 8.5/10. I really enjoyed it.
If you want a funny movie to watch with your friends, this is a good one.
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