The Interview Review

Is a film ever offensive enough to kill for? Apparently someone thinks so, but fortunately, the only real casualty of The Interview so far is Sony’s pride. The damage done by those exposed emails will likely be bandaged up nicely when The Interview eventually takes in a tidy profit from its online and cinema release.

When the presenter of dumbed-down celebrity interview show ‘Skylark Tonight’ learns that North Korean despot Kim Jong-un is a fan of his show, Dave Skylark and his producer Aaron decide to do what any journalist would do and secure an interview with the supreme leader. On discovering that they will be granted access to North Korea and its dictator, the CIA get Dave and Aaron to agree to assassinate Kim through poisoning him. Things become complicated as Dave begins a bromance with the madman he has been sent to kill and Aaron falls for a North Korean woman.

If you can’t already tell by the plot, The Interview is an incredibly silly film. From its opening Eminem cameo to its over the top tank vs helicopter finale, its frequently as dumb as its characters. Dick jokes, shit jokes, gratuitous swearing, casual racism, sexism and a splash of homophobia are all doused on the script making this a film aimed squarely at an audience that enjoys the juvenile side of life. Those looking for any smart satire need not apply or need to look very, very carefully and far beneath the thick layer of surprisingly bloody violence and unsurprisingly salty humour.

 It’s fun to see writer/director Rogen taking the straight role to James Franco’s off-the-chain dumbass extraordinaire. Their chemistry is fantastic, making it a shame when their simultaneous romances threaten to pull them apart. The Interview is basically a buddy comedy with Kim playing the Bond villain bad guy with some unexpected layers. It’s not worth killing anyone over but put it this way; if I was Kim Jong-un (or Katy Perry for that matter), both have good reason to be pretty fucking pissed with The Interview.

Watch the trailer:

More Reviews at I Love That Film

More Trailers at I Love That Film

London Film Festival 2014

Buy my book on The Blair Witch Project