As 2014 wound down, North Korea bared its teeth, promising massive retaliation if North American movie theaters released The Interview, directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. A farce about clownish North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un, it had demonstrably touched a raw nerve in the nuclear-armed hermit kingdom.
Bowing to North Korea’s pressure, Sony Pictures cravenly announced it would delay its release. An uproar ensued and Sony switched course. In rapid succession, The Interview was shown by independent theaters, placed online and then released by the big theater chains.
So what was all the fuss about?
Not too much, actually.
I watched The Interview on the Netflix streaming service, and it’s really nothing more than a serviceable farce that pokes fun at one of the world’s most dictatorial and isolated regimes. If the North Korean government hadn’t protested so vehemently, I suspect, The Interview would have passed us by like a ship at night.
The plot is pretty straightforward.
David Skylark (James Franco) hosts a TV talk show. His producer, Aaron Rapoport (Seth Rogen), convinces him that they should concentrate on “real news” rather than celebrity gossip. Shortly afterward, serendipitously enough, Rapoport is offered a one hour interview with Kim Jong Un, a fan.
Before the pair jet off to North Korea, they receive a visit from young and hip CIA agent Lacey (Lizzie Caplan), who asks them to “take out” Kim Jong Un for the sake of world peace. They’re to assassinate him with a poison band-aid strip while shaking his hand. Franco and Rogen use this occasion to good effect, cracking a few wry jokes about the exact meaning of Lacey’s request.
Once they’ve landed in North Korea, a country that has experienced mass hunger, the caustic humour flies thick and fast. “We have many fat children” says their handler, Sook Yung Park (Diane Banag). She further claims that Kim Jong Un doesn’t defecate because he burns energy inside his body.
Skylark and Kim Jong Un (Randall Park) hit it off. The North Korean, who seems like a regular guy, discusses politics, shows off his collection of cars, takes Skylark on a wild tank ride, displays his knowledge of American popular culture and professional sports and introduces him to a bevy of shapely chicks always at his disposal. The humor here is crude and predictable.
Kim Jong Un impresses Skylark. “He’s the only guy who gets me,” he says.
Skylark is so much in thrall to his host that when Rapoport tries to carry out the CIA-directed mission, he stops him cold with the odd comment that Rapoport is Jewish. Skylark, however, soon becomes disillusioned with the repressive North Korean system.
Meanwhile, Rapoport and Sook Yung Park make out in a riotous scene. Having become somewhat intimate with him, she reveals her true colors, accusing Kim Jong UN of being a dictator, liar, murderer and terrible leader. He’s a man rather than a god, she adds for good measure.
Skylark’s interview with Kim Jong Un starts politely and degenerates into a verbal slug fest, exposing the North Koran as a callous leader and crybaby. When a technician in the control room tries to shut down the television feed, he and Rapoport engage in two rounds of fisticuffs, in one of the most hilarious scenes.
As I’ve indicated, The Interview is sporadically funny, but viewers have to put up with long stretches of arid sequences reeking of profane language before they can laugh out loud again.
Franco and Rogen are certainly fine comedians, but their talents can only go so far in a movie of relatively limited appeal.