All that trouble for this…
I’m sure I’m not the only one who was hoping that Evan
Goldberg and Seth Rogan’s The Interview would be, if not a groundbreaking classic, at the very least a film that took
chances. Surely the movie would justify the international turmoil it had
generated. Alas, maybe there’s some
irony to be found in the fact that the film is a run-of-the-mill comedic
exercise, one that occasionally catches fire thanks to the inspired, lunatic
performance of James Franco, but often as not becomes mired in gags that suffer
from reaching for an obvious end or simply aren’t carried through to an
inspired punch line.
The movie begins promisingly enough as we see talk show host
Dave Skylark (Franco) sitting down with his latest celebrity victim, rapper
Eminem. For some odd reason, the host’s
dim-bulb personality causes his guests to let down their guard and before you
know it, they’re making the most intimate of confessions on national
television. (Credit the rapper for
willingly poking fun at himself, admitting here that he’s gay, saying that
through his music he was “leaving a breadcrumb trail of gayness.”) Thanks to
the wonders of the internet, North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un (Randall Park) is
able to see Skylark’s show regularly, has become a huge fan and agrees to sit
down for his first in-depth interview with the host himself, after his producer
Aaron Rapaport (Roth) takes a shot in the dark at legitimacy by requesting this
sit-down.
News of this interview sends shockwaves throughout the
international news community and gains the attention of the CIA who send Agent
Lacey (Lizzy Caplan) to charge Rapaport and Skylark with assassinating Kim. This is an assignment they’re uncomfortable
taking on, even more so after they arrive in North Korea, are shown a
prosperous and happy populace and are charmed by the leader who doesn’t seem
like such a bad guy after all.
As co-directors, Goldberg and Rogan deserve credit for
moving the story along with a sense of confidence that belies the material at
their disposal. All the gags may not be
gems but at the very least, the film progresses headlong from one scene to the
next with nary a wasted moment in sight, at least where plot progression is
concerned. In taking this tact it seems
as though they are trying to generate a sense of momentum knowing full well
that the material itself won’t.
What’s so frustrating about the film is that it shows
occasional sparks of brilliance, suggesting the sort of movie it should have
been. A sequence in which Skylark and
Rapaport stumble through an assassination training session is inspired while
the interview itself proves to be far more meaningful, both from a humorous and
dramatic point of view than one would expect.
If anything, Rogan proves what a selfless performer he is,
taking on the thankless role of straight man to Franco’s clueless egotist. The former’s sense of timing is impeccable
and that he willingly sets up his co-star to deliver one piece of comedic gold
after another is to be commended. Franco
delivers the most effective comic performance of the year, bringing to life a
man who’s just smart enough to be on TV and just ignorant enough to think he
deserves to be there. The actor
enthusiastically and sincerely delivers one funny line after another,
proclaiming that other news organizations are “peanut butter and jealous” over
the scoop they’ve scored, proclaims it as “the biggest interview since Frosty
Nixon” and declares “I got some questions for that goat,” when he hears that
Matthew McConaughey may be having relations with a four-legged friend of
his. Franco is fully invested here and
the payoff is enormous as he is the highlight in an otherwise lackluster
production.
Initially, Goldberg and Roth take a humanistic approach in
their portrayal of Kim, casting him as an insecure man weighed down by the
burdens of his country and haunted by the disapproval of his father. It’s no wonder that Skylark, and to a certain
extent the viewer, pause to reconsider the manner in which the leader has been
portrayed in the media. Whether or not
this is true is besides the point – that the filmmakers push us towards
considering it, is. Unfortunately, Kim becomes a stock villain in the final
act, living up to all of the negative press that’s been written about him and
more, set on deploying nuclear weapons on a whim before being stopped by the
movie’s accidental heroes.
Much like their Pineapple
Express, The Interview suffers
from issues of tone as well. It comes as
no surprise that there is no level that Goldberg and Rogan won’t sink to in
order to get a laugh with one questionably crude moment tripping on the
next. However, what’s truly disturbing
is the amount of gratuitous violence the film contains during its climax, a
display of sophomoric indulgence that’s jarring and out of place.
Perhaps the most ironic line comes from Kim
himself when he says, ”You know what’s more destructive than a nuclear
bomb? Words.” Truer words were never spoken yet Goldberg
and Rogan fail to heed this thought, producing a film replete with wasted
opportunities instead of one in which a vital statement about foreign relations
could have been made. Too bad Kim himself didn’t realize this. Had he not made such a stink about The Interview, it would have surely
fallen out of the limelight due to bad word-of-mouth that would have been
spread by those having seen it during its opening weekend.
This article appears in Dec 25-31, 2014.
