Accompanied by a huge hacking controversy, it was unlikely Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s The Interview was ever going to be smart or subversive enough to merit all the attention it received. But it could at least have been good. However, The Interview is merely another generic high-concept stoner comedy, where the actors seem to be having much more fun than the audience. The only unique feature of this caper is that it’s become an emblem of America’s progressive politics and freedom of speech – all while being painfully regressive and immature.
James Franco and Seth Rogen star as the host and producer of Skylark Tonight, a TMZ-style show, who volunteer to interview their unlikely fan, Kim Jong-un. Recruited by the CIA to turn their fluffy TV spot into an assassination attempt, the film has a set-up worthy of a biting homage to Dr. Strangelove and The Great Dictator.
But the tame, predictable pot-shots at Kim Jong-Un are tired and unoriginal, while Franco and Rogen phone in their schlubby characters. Rogen’s usual obsession with gay jokes and anal penetration has reached an unbearable level, and supposedly ironic gags about women are undone by the fact that every smart female character is consistently objectified or sexualised.
As Kim Jong-un, Randall Park’s character is the source of many obvious punchlines: Daddy issues, gay panic, a secret love of Katy Perry. It’s comedy totally lacking in punch, but to his credit, Park imbues his man-child Supreme Leader with such naiveté and joyful fanboy energy in the face of his idol, Dave Skylark, that he elevates the material far beyond its worth.
America, I rarely say this – but you deserve better. And audiences definitely do.