Definitely the most controversial film to be released this year, Seth Rogen’s The Interview could’ve and might’ve been a catalyst for World War 3 thanks to rising tensions between America and North Korea. But since the film didn’t get a wide release cinemas (due to security concerns) it was available to buy and stream on various websites and apps like Xbox Live. So I decided to have a look and see what all the hypes about.
The Interview stars James Franco and Seth Rogen (who also co-wrote the film) and is about two hosts of a tabloid TV show who are invited to North Korea to interview Kim Jong Un, however before they go they’re tasked by the American Government to assassinate him.
As a Seth Rogen film you might guess it flirts with the same humour of all his other films like This Is The End and Pineapple Express. I think most people have a love/hate relationship with Seth Rogen and his dorkish ‘weed head’ humour. And if you already don’t like his films this isn’t about to change anything…
The film felt very “of the cuff” despite the obvious and predictable story and character arcs you already saw coming, the scenes felt unsure of themselves like they didn’t know where they were going, I think this is down to the improv of the two stars Rogen and Franco. Some jokes carried on for too long and some lines weren’t delivered with any comedic flair. This is a film where sound, camera work and editing to emphasise comedic scenes (all of the scenes) were sorely missed. The screenplay on its own didn’t even seem great, it’s surprising they made a film at all, I think this was made apparent when certain jokes kept reappearing in the film to the point where you react with “really? Again?”. As you can expect it has jokes based off childish things like sex, and the promotion of drugs of course, can’t forget that in a Rogen/Goldberg film.
Despite the poor screenplay there were some ups to this film, the directors again Rogen and Goldberg characterised the film with an interesting choice of shots and colour schemes. Definitely showing some talent in the thriller/spy genre which is very strange indeed. Maybe they focused too much on giving it the professional spy atmosphere than the comedic conventions resulting in the comedy only being produced by dialogue, which was only funny about 50% of the time. Music choices were also a thumbs up as they always are in Rogen/Goldberg films. James Franco was wonderful as the cartoony man child Dave Skylark, the character wasn’t that great but Franco does his very best at bringing out the best in the character in gullibleness and pure stupidity. Randell Park who portrays Kim Jong Un is the stand out performance in my opinion, he brings a loveable enigmatic prescence to the screen, helping the audience sympathise with how Skylark feels when spending time with him. I am looking forward to seeing Park in future films.
All in all, The Interview is not anywhere near the comedic genius of 22 Jump Street, or even the plain fun of Bad Neigbours, another Rogen film released earlier this year. Apart form the controversial subject matter, the film has nothing going for it. Even for Seth Rogen/Goldberg fans this wouldn’t make the top 5 of the duos best films. At least you won’t have to pay to see it in the cinema if you don’t want to.
Words by Eddie.