Thursday, December 25, 2014

The Interview - Too Much Hype, Delivers Nothing!

The Interview starring Seth Rogan and James Franco is the subject of my review this week. Directed by Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg after the disappointing 'This Is  The End" attracted a lot of hype and negative publicity when in June 2014 the North Korean government threatened of "merciless" action against the USA if the movie was released. The movie also got a lot of attention when a terrorist body the Guardians of Peace threatened terrorist attacks against every cinemas that played The Interview forcing the makers to release the movie online instead of theaters. However I felt the hype and all the negative publicity was for nothing after watching this mindless and souless comedy.
Dave Skylark (James Franco) and his producer Aaron Rapoport (Seth Rogen) run the popular celebrity tabloid TV show "Skylark Tonight." When they discover that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un (Randall Park) is a fan of the show, they land an interview with him in an attempt to legitimize themselves as journalists. As Dave and Aaron prepare to travel to Pyongyang, their plans change when the CIA recruits them, perhaps the two least-qualified men imaginable, to assassinate Kim Jong-un.

The story and screenplay by Seth Rogan, Dan Sterling and Evan Goldberg travel on a thin plot which does not make any sense. The dialogues are crassy and the performances are bad. James Franco throughout the movie has a constipated look and expression, and tries hard not to irritate the audience. Seth Rogen tries hard to act but with no success. A bunch of Chinese looking actors do not add much value to the plot. Randall Park seems to impress a little with his dictator act.

On the whole the entire movie is just a waste of time.

My Verdict: *
Poor - *, Average - **, Good - ***, Very Good - ****, Excellent - *****