After seeing 2014’s most controversial and talked-about movie (that almost wasn’t a 2014 movie), the R-rated Seth Rogen/James Franco comedy “The Interview”, it’s clear North Korea’s concerns about the film’s concept and content are justified. It’s uncertain if high-ranking officials or Kim Jong-un have actually seen the film, or if their outrage was simply triggered by the “pushing the envelope too far” story, which centers on a plot to assassinate the North Korean dictator. But there’s no denying that a lot of shots are fired at Kim and his country throughout “The Interview”, both literally and figuratively.
But I have to admit that I laughed more than I expected. Well, at least in the first half. Much like with the previous collaboration of directors Rogen and Evan Goldberg (last year’s “This is The End”), the first hour of “The Interview” is quite strong in the humor department. As highly popular but not-so intelligent entertainment talk show host Dave Skylark, Franco perfectly plays to his comedic strengths with a lot of fast and sharp one-liners. Rogen is the straight man of the pair, as Skylark’s longtime producer Aaron Rapaport, but provides his share of laughs as well, particularly in a scene in which Skylark is interviewing rapper Eminem.
By now, what happens next is pretty well known: Skylark finds out that Kim Jong-un is a fan of “Skylark Tonight”. So he and Rapaport pitch North Korea the idea to have the host interview Kim on his show. And North Korea actually goes for it. Before they head East, CIA Agent Lacey (played by Lizzy Caplan of “Masters of Sex”) requests that the pair assassinate Kim, and preps them with a highly-organized plan, which, obviously, will not run smoothly. The set-up works, and provides plenty of highlights along the way.
But once Skylark and Rapaport arrive in North Korea and begin prepping for The Interview, “The Interview” starts to lose its edge. New characters are introduced, including Kim Jong-un himself (played by Randall Park), and unexpected relationships form. The frantic, comical pace of the first half gives way to too much dialogue and too many forced gags. I found myself shaking my head more often than laughing, whether in reaction to the obvious physical jokes, gratuitous situations, or sudden bursts of violence.
By the time the interview finally takes place, the script has long since run out of gas. We’re left with an outrageously desperate control room scene and a finale that screams forced and hokey. While most great comedies invite you to join in on the laughs, the final act of “The Interview” displays a “look what we can do” superiority which turns the audience into silent observers instead of active participants.
It’s possible that the build-up led me to watch “The Interview” with too much of a critical eye. The film, overall, is a solid, generally entertaining and occasionally sharp, wacky farce that just happened to take too big a chance by picking on the wrong guy at the wrong time. And those involved have paid the price for that. With some fine-tuning of the script, including the use of a fictitious world leader as its target, “The Interview” could’ve been one of Sony’s more profitable releases of the year and one of the best comedies of 2014. But then again, without daring to go too far, it may never have gotten made.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “The Interview” gets a C+.