Yesterday I told you what I went through to watch The Interview, which, by the way, came to almost 30 Canadian theatres last weekend. But London isn’t one of the cities where it’s showing. Theatre owners here said to Sony, hey, when you pulled the movie out of theatres a couple of weeks ago we had to replace it with something. So we’re busy – go away!Â
Bottom line: It’s funny. The Interview is as ridiculous and over-the-top as any other Seth Rogen comedy. James Franco plays Dave Skylark, a popular entertainment-news show host, and Rogen is his producer who wants to be taken seriously and get involved with more real news. They score a world exclusive interview with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the CIA asks them to assassinate him. This is all well known, because the real Un has called the film “an act of war” and started a whole kerfuffle. Sony emails were hacked, feelings were hurt, the movie was cancelled and then revived. It’s a bit of a thing!
If you want to get picky, James Franco is terrible in the moments when he’s on camera alone as Dave Skylark. There’s nothing believable about the way he behaves. It bugged me. But the rest of his performance and everyone else’s are fun and this film was never going to be Oscar material, anyway! A couple of famous people are wonderful in their fake cameos.
The story is what you’d expect. It’s outlandish, cartoonish in its violence and with the requisite number of butthole jokes. Say what you like about Rogen but he’s a powerful force in Hollywood and he finds new ways to make buttholes funny. His friendship with Franco goes back to the TV series Freaks and Geeks in 1999 and they have a comfortable chemistry. Because of his Canadian roots, Rogen likes to bring other Canucks on board his films. Even the tiger, Robbie, hails from the Bowmanville Zoo and has an unforgettable role in The Interview. A female character turns out to play a pivotal, heroic role, played by adorable Canadian actress Diana Bang.
People who normally wouldn’t care about a new movie are being drawn to The Interview just to see what all the fuss is about. Despite the FBI’s finding that North Korea hacked into Sony’s email, skeptics say the whole hacking and withdrawing scandal was an inside job by Sony, just to see if a movie could still make money if theatres were cut out of the equation. It might be the start of the new normal for new release films. As it stands, they’re losing millions to illegal downloads and the theatre experience is out of touch for many people. Not only is it about $50 just to see a movie and buy a couple of treats, you might end up stuck beside some doughhead who talks through the whole thing or smells funny. At home, intermission comes whenever you want it and snacks are free! It’s pretty easy to see which delivery method has more appeal.