We hope everyone had a fantastic holiday, filled with family, friends…and The Interview. Time to wipe the sleep out of those eyes and hop on the treadmill! But before all of that, let’s talk about the movie that has affected the airwaves and the Internet more than Kim Kardashian’s nude backside.
After watching some Christmas classics (White Christmas and Miracle on 34th Street), my family and I felt it was time to get in on the hype. We downloaded The Interview via Youtube ($5.99, the cheapest place to rent it) and snuggled up with low expectations and curiosity.
The first half of the movie was actually pretty enjoyable. It gave an overview of the main characters, entertainment TV host David Skylark, and his best friend/producer Aaron Rappaport. James Franco had an excellent portrayal of an eccentric and somewhat uncomfortably weird Hollywood host and Seth Rogen portrayed the level-headed producer with ease.
Of course, there were VERY Rogen/Franco-esque aspects of the movie that were reminiscent of This Is The End. For one, the movie opens up with David Skylark interviewing Eminem, who admits he is gay on air. The whole production team is shown in an excited flurry as they are breaking the hottest news in Hollywood, and post ridiculous taglines such as “Hector’s Rectum is Real”. But it doesn’t stop there.
In addition, Franco and Rogen had a trippin’-out-on-drugs and party hard scene in typical Pineapple-Express-fashion. However, even though there were these stereotypical aspects of Rogen’s films, they were never lengthy enough to let the audience get annoyed by it. It was quick, to the point, and on to the next scene, which I think is why I actually really enjoyed the first half of the movie.
Moving on to North Korea… The duo arrives to Kim Jong Un’s mansion in the beautiful countryside. At this point, David Skylark has proven to be the most air-headed, impressionable person ever on camera. So, when Un takes him on a tour of his house (including playing on his private basketball court and driving around in a tank), Skylark immediately is in awe and sees Un as a friend. As the two spend more time together, Skylark empathizes with the leader feeling that he is just a lonely man who never received approval from his father.
The movie STILL captured my attention to this point. However, it took a turn for the worst after Un revealed his plans to nuke just about anyone in the world that got in his way (including America). When Skylark was interviewing Un, all hell broke loose. I won’t go into too much detail, but I’d just about seen enough as the producer, Aaron Rappaport’s, fingers got bitten off by one of the North Korean workers in the production room. From there, it was just a downhill mess of machine guns, brutal killing (more like Kill Bill-style than actual gore), explosions, and hey! A puppy (because who doesn’t love puppies?).
Short of telling you how it ends, which I’m sure you can easily guess, the American’s reign supreme and the CIA applauds Skylark and Rappaport’s successful mission (with both of the guys getting the girls).
I know that this movie will get a lot more hype and probably better reviews than it should because of everything that happened prior to its release. As a movie itself, without taking into account the “America F*** Yeah!” of it all, I have to say this is definitely a solid one-time watch. I’d recommend watching if you have friends or colleagues that keep up-to-date on the latest trending phenomenons to be able to discuss and share thoughts (which at Incitrio, we definitely keep in the loop). However, if no one you know really cares or will be watching, I’d say it is safe to pass and go see something more acclaimed like Interstellar or Into the Woods.
I do applaud Rogen for bringing to light the cruelty that is happening in North Korea. It is definitely on everyone’s radar at this point and if not, then you may be living under a rock…or in North Korea. But again, at the root of it all, everything leading up to the release of The Interview has shown how powerful social media can be when it comes to spreading news and information. Social media also opens up channels of conversation for controversial topics, which leads to what this is all about – Freedom of Speech. America, yeah!
