Coastal View News
“The Interview” is not entirely humorless. But by far the
funniest thing about this movie is that some dictator halfway around the world
thought that it was so seriously provocative, so worthy of outrage, that it
called for an act of so-called “cyber vandalism”. This movie isn’t so seriously
anything. And it is at most worthy of
a languid wave of the hand, perhaps a derisive sneer, or maybe—just maybe—a chuckle or two. If you’ve burned
more than three calories in the process, you’ve overreacted. So what’s truly
hilarious is that “The Interview” has gotten the attention (and profits) that
it decidedly does not deserve
evidently because Kim Jong-un was so worried about it getting the attention
that, again, it does not deserve.
Why doesn’t it deserve attention? Well, just watch the
trailer. Also if you want to know the entire plot of the movie, just watch a
trailer. Dave Skylark (James Franco), half-Barbara Walters, half-Perez Hilton,
has a popular TV show where celebrities debase themselves. Aaron Rapaport (Seth
Rogen) is its producer. These two bottom-feeders get a chance to do something
important when they land an interview with Kim Jong-un (Randall Park), who
turns out to be a big fan of the show. But the CIA wants them to use their
insider access to assassinate Kim Jong-un instead.
The rest of the movie is epicycles fluttering around the
same plot points and gags. Skylark and Rapaport find out that Kim is
surprisingly down-to-earth. Then they find out he’s not. They discover that Kim
isn’t so bad. Then they find out he is. They think for just a second that Kim
has his own side of the story and really cares about his people and actually
isn’t doing such a bad job. Then they found out: Uh, nope.
Meanwhile they ride a tank while listening to Katy Perry, tangle
with a Siberian tiger, hide things where even the TSA wouldn’t look, and play
basketball with topless strippers. Yes, it is that kind of movie.
But with that said, “The Interview” is not as awful as I
thought it would be. It has a certain level of self-awareness to it—awareness
that it is, in fact, quite a dumb movie—that makes it hard to criticize too
harshly. James Franco, in particular, should be lauded for the drunken smirk he
wears on his glossy, contorted face throughout the movie—a smirk that says,
“Yeah, I don’t know what this is either … so I’m just going to be relentlessly
goofy.” At least he seems to be having fun. It reminds me of a sixth-grade
slumber party: By midnight everyone in their soda- and pizza-induced stupor is
giggling themselves sick over jokes they all know are ridiculously unfunny … but hey, why not?
Don’t get me wrong, “The Interview” is not a good movie. It
is unabashedly dumb—nothing more, nothing less. Its guiding thoughts seem to
be: “Wouldn’t it be funny if we made Kim Jong-un do this?” “Wouldn’t it be
great if he turned out to be really into Katy Perry, margaritas, and gossip
shows?” and “Kim should poop his pants at some point, right?”
The lasting legacy of “The Interview” will always be that,
once upon a time, North Korea thought it was worth getting bent out of shape
over. And yet ironically the only thing less effectual—less capable of being
taken seriously—than North Korea’s threats is this movie.
