There has been a certain amount of publicity surrounding the new movie from funny men Seth Rogen and James Franco. Treats from North Korea, a movie shut down from Sony and a whole bunch of controversy. But is the movie actually any good?
Rogen and Franco have been pairing in movies since the wildly successful 'The Pineapple Express', and have had a few hits and misses since then. Last time they got together for 'This Is The End' Franco and Rogen fell flat with a not-so-funny apocalyptic movie that at times verged on ridiculous.
'The Interview' starts off with a North Korean child singing what is meant to be the national anthem – garnering a few cheap laughs at the onset. James Franco plays Dave Skylark, a flashy all-smiles TV host. Franco plays the role well and over-acts it with finesse and believability. Seth Rogen is his side-kick (yet again) Aaron Rapoport, a socially awkward TV producer. Together the two run popular tabloid interview show 'Skylark Tonight'. Sick of not being taken seriously by their colleagues Skylark and Rapoport make a pact to start producing more high-calibre interviews.When they land an interview with a surprise fan, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, the two are ecstatic and think they have finally made it and will gain creditability. They are soon recruited by the CIA to fulfill an assassination mission and this is where trouble ensues for the hapless pair.
While the movie garners a few laughs at the beginning, by the second act it loses momentum and begins to border on the ridiculous and unbelievable. There are numerous 'Lord Of The Rings' references and it starts quite funny, however by the end of the movie the over-done references become tedious. Even the cameos by famous stars such as Eminem and Rob Lowe do little to captivate the audience.
Just like 2013 release of 'This Is The End' the movie begins well enough and has a few good laughs, but it quickly loses the viewer with re-hashed jokes, smutty one-liners, cheap innuendo and double entendres. Rogen and Franco do have great on-screen chemistry but the jokes tend to miss the mark most of the time.
'The Interview' has garnered a lot of attention with all of the controversy that has surrounded it. With it being pulled from cinemas, a statement from Barrack Obama and a threat of war from North Korea, it begs to question would this movie have received the publicity that is has, if the subject matter was different? Probably not. Is this movie one that should be taken as offensively as it has? No. Will it be the most downloaded movie of 2014/ 2015? Yes.
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The movie may have made a lot of money since the online release and created some great publicity for the pair, but strip that away and this is a movie that simply is just not that great.
5/10
