Story by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg & Dan Sterling
Screenplay Written by Dan Sterling
Directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg
***1/2 (three and a half stars)
Well played, Seth and James. Well played.
Let's just get it all out in the open, shall we. I thought this whole thing was a massive PR stunt. Of course, I will never know if it is true but that is just my gut feeling. By now, we all know about the pre-Christmas Day release controversy surrounding "The Interview," the second directorial effort from the comedic creative team of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. This controversy, which resulted in the supposed hacking of the Sony corporation by North Korea, which was then followed by threats of violence to movie theaters, which then prompted theater owners to back out of showing the film on opening day, which then forced Sony to pull its own release date plug, which then forced a public outcry (that even included President Obama) decrying Sony's move based on perceived injustices to the 1st Amendment which then forced Sony to (of course!) decide to release the film anyway, albeit through the more unconventional methods of streaming services and Video On Demand plus some independent theaters around the country, just felt to be so increasingly preposterous the longer it played out.
I have to tell you, by the time the President weighed in, I truly wondered to myself if Seth Rogen and James Franco were having a laugh on the entire country and once the film was released anyway, it all seemed to fall into place in my mind. Honestly, a comedy abut two media clowns attempting to assassinate Kim Jong-un was outrageous enough but to me, the sight of real world Americans all demanding their rights for free speech based upon a movie that had already received some negative pre-release reviews, that general audiences would most likely not even see thus creating a potential box office bomb was just beyond outlandish, and potentially even funnier than the actual film itself.
Just think. To take a film that most people may not have ever seen and to transform it into the very thing that everybody wants to see, or is at least curious about, is undeniably genius and I do applaud whomever arrived with this scheme. I'm telling you, those people do deserve a massive raise as the film has quickly, and inevitably, become a hit. Even so, I was beginning to feel a bit irked at possibly of being jerked around by all of this nonsense because if the film cannot stand on its own, then it just can't regardless of whatever hype is created around it. But, in order to truly weigh in, I have to see what the fuss is all about and I am not here to review a controversy. I am here to review only what is on the screen. And with that I have to happily express to you that "The Interview" is the most audacious comedy of 2014 by a mile. I laughed out loud often and HARD and I deeply appreciate the sheer comedic fearlessness plus filmmaking bravado that Rogen and Goldberg have displayed with their second directorial effort.
"The Interview" stars James Franco as Dave Skylark, the unabashedly vacuous host of the entertainment gossip talk show "Skylark Tonight" and Seth Rogen co-stars as Skylark's producer, Aaron Rapoport, a journalist with a long held desire to produce authentic journalism. After the 1000th broadcast of their television show, and discovering that "Skylark Tonight" is one of Kim Jogn-un's favorite television programs, Dave arrives at the idea of interviewing the North Korean leader as a way of creating a television interview coup for himself and increased journalistic respect for Aaron in the process.
An initially skeptical Aaron then sets up the proposed interview, which is surprisingly accepted by North Korea and fully arranged by North Korean official Sook (Diana Bang). Soon afterwards, Dave and Aaron are visited by CIA agent Lacey (Lizzy Caplan), who instructs them to take this interview opportunity to covertly assassinate Kim Jong-un (played riotously by Randall Park), thus facilitating a coup d'etat. Dave and Aaron reluctantly agree to the task.
If you took some elements of Director Barry Levinson's classic political satire "Wag The Dog" (1997), Director Ben Affleck's "Argo" (2012), certainly "Mission: Impossible," those Bing Crosby and Bob Hope road movies, blended them all and released the results through a bong, then you would have an idea of what "The Interview" is like. Let me first say that based upon how much I loved the fearless audaciousness of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's previous film, the apocalyptic satire "This Is The End" (2013), I should have stuck to my original feelings with regards to seeing "The Interview" in the first place and not allowed the initial negative reviews to sway my enthusiasm, which was indeed quite healthy. First and foremost, Rogen and Goldberg did not disappoint in the least for me as "The Interview" is so defiantly shameless, insubordinate and irreverent. It is also undeniably fearless as its "take no prisoners" approach makes for the very kind of dangerous comedy that is of exceedingly short supply these days.
As with "This Is The End," Seth Rogen essentially plays the straight man and wisely so, as he plays to his strengths as an actor by allowing everyone else around him to take center stage within the madness. That is not to say that Rogen doesn't save any gems for himself, which includes a night time showdown with a tiger, a "Lord Of The Rings" inspired fight sequence late in the film (you just have to see it) and the already much discussed covert smuggling of a poisonous weapon.
James Franco is just a madman as he is clearly relishing the opportunity to be this unhinged on-screen. He takes the concept of stupidity to new heights (or depths) and all the while, his no-holds-barred performance will indeed test your personal boundaries as his relentless energy with either elate or exhaust you. For me, it was a bit of both and happily so.
Randall Park is truly the film's wildest of wild cards as his interpretation of Kim Jogn-un for much of the film is surprisingly sympathetic as his version of the North Korean leader forges a bro-mance with Dave Skylark, a friendship based in basketball, shared rides in Jogn-un's private tank and a secret love of Katy Perry's "Fireworks." Even so, Park, with Rogen and Goldberg's conceptual guidance, does not undercut the reality of Kim Jong-un's dictatorship, but somehow they have made this figure quite the comic character who does nearly steal the film from our two stars.
Yes, the film is unrepentantly vulgar with hefty doses of scatological humor, endless profanities, nasty screwball hijinks and adolescent blasts of "Monty Python-esque" graphic violence from beginning to end. All of the qualities are precisely what you would expect and are all hallmarks of Rogen and Goldberg's previous film excursions. But, what was very impressive to me is that this duo has helmed yet another exceptionally well filmed, constructed and executed manic comedy that merges all manner of social satire and cultural comedy into the wildest political carton since Actor/Writer/Producer John Cusack's passion project, the brilliantly rapacious and extremely underseen "War, Inc." (2008), as directed by Joshua Seftel. However, unlike that film, Rogen and Goldberg have somehow crafted an experience that is indeed less rancorous and therefore, more accessible than Cusack's more rage filled strand of satire. But hold on then...perhaps, by making a film that is indeed more accessible by being more overtly ridiculous, maybe Rogen and Goldberg have made a film that is more subversive than I am giving it credit for.
For a film that is indeed this brazenly stupid, it is also extremely savvy in what it wishes to be stupid about. First of all, our two heroes are complete idiots, definitely one more than the other, but idiots without question. But to just have two leading characters getting themselves unwittingly involved in one crazy moment after another is definitely not enough for a movie, a trap Rogen and Goldberg very smartly avoid.
Yes, North Korea is comedically laid to waste in "The Interview" but truth be told, I would say that the joke of the film is mostly and decidedly upon the United States. In addition to existing as a post-mortem of our now non-existent state of journalism, the increased idiocy of our entertainment and our allegiance to upholding all manner of cultural stupidity in the process, Rogen and Goldberg are also suggesting that our societal sense of increased megalomania is entirely contributing to our sense of intellectual decay, which even includes aspects of our military, which in the world of this film is fully responsible for enacting a plan as preposterous as this one, and with the utmost seriousness, in the first place.
Beyond that, the satire plunges even deeper as Rogen and Goldberg deftly place their sights directly at us in the audience as "The Interview" also works as an exploration of media manipulation of the masses and just how we, as viewers and consumers, are so easily led and swayed with truly the most insignificant amounts of information at our disposal. And honestly, the satire has indeed worked extremely well as it truly played out for real with the pre-release controversy. Again, just think about what has happened. A film that most mainstream audiences probably would not even have seen or cared about is suddenly transformed into the symbol of American freedom and the right to free speech?! That is just insanity, as so much of the American public is either uninformed or uncaring about how our 1st Amendment rights are actually being eroded year after year. But that is indeed life in the 21st century and now, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and James Franco can heartedly laugh themselves all the way to the bank. More power to them and again I say, well played!
And to that end, with "The Interview," Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are equal opportunity offenders as everything on their conceptual radar receives its own amount of excessive lampooning. Look, dear readers. What really counts is the following: no matter how much analysis that I can give to the film is meaningless if it just wasn't funny. For me, "The Interview" was VERY funny, as Rogen and Goldberg certainly did not play anything safe or hedge their bets. They realized their concept as completely as possible, with confidence, urgency and without ever looking behind them even once.
Whether smart or stupid, the comedy itself proved to be the victor.
No comments:
Post a Comment