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RARELY, IF EVER, has the US president been required to intervene to ensure the release of a Hollywood film but after all the hassle and hype about ‘The Interview’ is it actually any use?
Having originally cancelled the film’s release following a cyber attack and threats against moviegoers, Sony surprised people by putting it online for US viewers on Christmas Eve with it then opening in selected cinemas across the States yesterday.
The comedy, starring Seth Rogen (who also co-directs) and James Franco, depicts how TV presenter Dave Skylark (Franco) and his producer (Rogen) secure an unlikely exclusive interview with North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong-un before being roped into a CIA plot to assassinate the reclusive dictator.
So, is it any good? You’re probably not all that surprised to hear that the reviews are not great.
The Verge says “the least important element of the story of The Interview is The Interview itself”. Emily Yoshida writes:
The Interview is substandard Apatovian bro-fare to the point of self-parody, full of the offensive Asian accents and dick-joke-a-minute banter one would expect.
She also has a message for those of you – and we’re sure there are many of you – that are thinking of going to see the film purely because of the hype:
If you are not the kind of person who would normally go see The Interview, but have been swept up in the mania surrounding it and have a ticket to a brick-and-mortar screening on Christmas Day, maybe take a moment to ask yourself why. Consider spending those two hours with your families or loved ones instead; they probably miss you and love you.
Her review did not go down well with one star of the film:
AFP wonderfully describes Franco’s character, Skylark, as a “girl-chasing, hard-partying, always fashionable tabloid TV presenter” while poor Rogen is reduced to merely “his producer”. Of the film it says:
A bawdy, expletive-laden tale full of sexual innuendo and scatological humor, the film starring Rogen and James Franco is a silly, low-brow romp about a CIA plot to assassinate Kim.
The New York Times‘s A.O. Scott perhaps nails it by pointing to the fact that Rogen and Franco have previous:
“This Is the End,” the previous Rogen-(Evan) Goldberg-Franco feature, seemed to leave the raunchy bro-com genre with nowhere new to go. It was funny, for sure, but its apocalyptic high jinks couldn’t quite disguise its conceptual exhaustion. “The Interview” confirms this impression.
The reviewer describes the film as “a goofy, strenuously naughty, hit-and-miss farce, propelled not by any particular political ideas but by the usual spectacle of male sexual, emotional and existential confusion”.
RogerEbert.com‘s Steven Boone is a little kinder, noting that while the interview is “nothing new” it does look good on screen:
Its widescreen visuals are James Bond/”Mission: Impossible” chrome-plated sleekness. The camera glides, shakes and catches the occasional wispy anamorphic lens flare as characters flit through control rooms, conference rooms, hotel suites and grand chambers. You expect Kanye West and some X-Men to show up.
Deadline’s Jeremy Gerard describes the film as Rogen and Franco’s “Christmas Turkey” but does pull back a little by noting it “isn’t the worst movie ever made. It’s not even the worst movie Sony released this holiday season”. He adds:
It’s an awfully stupid movie, and by stupid, I don’t mean good-stupid, the kind that makes you laugh so hard you forget to be embarrassed. The Interview is so drenched in flop sweat that anyone seeing it for reasons of patriotism should be saluted.
Variety might well nail it with its chief film critic Scott Foundas saying that North Korea is right to object to the film’s release as “Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s Kim Jong-un assassination farce is a terror attack … against comedy.” It doesn’t end with that humdinger as he adds:
This half-baked burlesque about a couple of cable-news bottom-feeders tasked with assassinating Korean dictator Kim Jong-un won’t bring global diplomacy to its knees, but should feel like a kind of terror attack to any audience with a limited tolerance for anal penetration jokes.
It’s not all bad though.
Rolling Stone‘s Peter Travers is a big fan of the movie, noting that succeeds in its mission “to make audiences piss themselves laughing” describing it as “killer funny” before adding:
It’s stupid. It’s in bad taste. It impossible. I know all that. Look, Quentin Tarantino killed Hitler in Inglourious Basterds and the neo-Nazis stayed quiet. It’s a farce, people. From the opening scene in which a North Korean schoolgirl sings about Americans drowning in their own blood to a face-melting climax for Kim, The Interview strives hard, sometimes way too hard, to push the envelope.
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The film is stupid and adolescent because its meant to be stupid and adolescent. Some film critics review these movies like a man going to watch a volkswagen race a ferrari and then bitching because the volkswagen lost. Get real for Chrissakes its a dumb comedy movie and as a dumb comedy movie it works! Maybe not for the tight assed wasp critics sipping martinis in the penthouse suite of the Artsy Fartsy Hilton LA but for the regular folks who just want to have a good laugh its worth the bucks.
Now there’s a comments I want to give two green thumbs
In your opinion,maybe the critics are right,are you saying we should go to every comedy that gets a crap review just to stick it to the critics? Life’s too short to be watching shite films when there are better ones out there.
Some warped and distorted idea of patriotism will have a lot of Yanks going to see this and not being 100% sure why they’re there,except some bad guy in Korea doesn’t want them to see it. Watch the trailer and save yourself 2 hours.
See I’m a fan of many stupid movies. Hot shots, monthy python, scary movie 1-3, old Adam Sandler, blackadder etc.
As I’ve said yet to see this one but it looks funny.
It isn’t. A few good scenes, but overall, more hard work than funny.
It’s a dreadful movie, maybe it’s aimed at teenagers or drunken partygoers who may also be fans of the stars but it was never going to get an academy award or raise any eyebrows, until all this hype began.
It was just another movie taking a swipe at the North Korean dictatorship and, if we’re to believe what we’re told, that was enough for them to take a swipe back launching a bad movie into infamy. Anyone old enough to remember the attempted banning of the Frankie Goes to Hollywood song “Relax” will know that to ban something is to guarantee everyone and his mother will want to see or hear it, and that’s exactly what happened here whether by accident or design.
I am up for dumb movies but this one doesn’t do a good job at being dumb. Just average… It looks like it was done in a hurry and many days were not that inspirational at coming up with good lines…
Rolling Stone are a funny old bunch these days,U2 and Bruce Springsteen topped their own Albums of the Year as well,the standards are falling it seems,jingoistic nonsense.
Rolling Stone hasn’t been relevant for over 25 years.
So just because RS favours something u don’t makes it nonsense? Get real will u that’s a ridiculous comment ,ever occur to u that millions agree with them .
I’m aiding with seth rogan on this one, don’t blame the movie itself for the hype. We are all to blame for hype.
If you don’t like pinapple express, that doomsday movie they did etc then don’t watch it, not your thing.
Last thing you should be doing is bashing a movie because your hyped expectations weren’t met, “don’t believe the hype”.
I liked Pineapple Express but this movie is pants. Yes pants.
I’ve yet to see it but thanks for the detailed review
Watched it last night , plenty of laughs. Not going to win any Oscars but for what it is its well worth a look.
I have watched half of it and so far there have been a few laughs but nothing to write home about. The film critics take themselves and this film way too seriously. It’s the sort of film that you should really sit down to after a few drinks and have a good adolescent laugh at so as to take your mind off all the crap that weighs you down.
It was rubbish!
I have seen it and it’s rubbish pure and simple not a good movie
I want to see it now after those reviews, I could do with a few stupid belly-laughs. Nice response to verge Seth.
I never thought i’d see anything worse than love/hate then this comes along. Utter tripe
My facebook time line is covered with great reviews of the film. Must give it a go.
Downloaded it last night and watched it.
There were some funny bits but overall I thought it was dreadful and racist. Then I had a read of reviews around the net and found even South Koreans didn’t find it funny and some found it offensive so I wasn’t wrong. There’s a lot of forced humour, a lot of anal and dick jokes, sexist and racist ‘humour’ with homoerotic overtones thrown in for good measure. It’s a silly movie that didn’t deserve the hype. If you really ‘need’ to see it don’t pay to see it.
Anything with Seth rogan is going to be a big steaming pile
Of awesomeness?
Total load of crap. Few funny bits.
The whole thing is media hype. North Korea didn’t hack Sony. It may all be a publicity stunt.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/12/24/no-north-korea-didn-t-hack-sony.html
I’ll give it a stream. Followed closely by Team America for a leadership style comparison of father and son.
Watched it last night and thought it was excellent , lots of stoner humor d1ck\fart jokes not high brow but damn funny !! Rogen and Franco are a great double act
Saw in a he articles tha one reviewer was slagging off dick jokes. Nothing wrong with a good dock joke if you ask me.
Sony honeydicked us good
Can I be the first to mention the water charges?
It’s pretty shocking that nobody has thought to praise the movie for shining a spotlight on that wa*%ker Kim Jong Un. Too few of us are aware of the unspeakable suffering wreaked upon the ordinary people of North Korea by this cruel, merciless & murderous thug and his familial regime. For raising this awareness, I’ll happily reward Sony with a cinema-ticket purchase regardless of the quality of the movie. It’s a tiny act of solidarity with those people I am unable to help. I’ll certainly not STEAL a torrent download like some other inconsiderate idiots have suggested here.
It would be ok if it actually was funny .. But it’s not . It’s embarrassing.. Crude vulgar and very badly written and acted .. A cartoon for babies would get more laughs . Waste of time . Kim should nuke Hollywood for this rubbish being allowed out . Dick and Ass jokes all the way .. Come on .
Watched it last night. Some funny parts and was better than anything on the telly
The whole family watched it, and we all thought it was briLliant.
I for one won’t be paying to watch it. …. I’ll just download it
This is the sort of movie that teaches the movie goer to ignore film critics. The film is stupid and no one involved in the production worries about offensiveness. A familiarity with The Lord Of The Rings will help the viewer understand some of the lines and some of the gags. Katy Perry fans may be annoyed. If you can hold back your laughter, you can be offended non-stop. But you’ll miss some of the best gags.
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