By DANNY BUTTLER
The Interview (MA)
Starring: James Franco, Seth Rogen, Lizzy Kaplan
IN THE satanic physics of Hollywood, James Franco is matter to the anti-matter of the execrable Seth Rogen.
Little time need be wasted on the character assassination of Rogen: suffice to say that most right-thinking people regard him as infuriating beyond belief … and that’s the kindest thing most have to say.
So in this film, Franco takes on the form of the antidote to the poison that is Rogen’s personality, pretty much cancelling him out. There’s always the sense that Franco is a pretty normal guy, and would remain so if the Hollywood millions evaporated overnight, as they so often do.
The impression is that this guy is having the time of his life. Which is fortunate, because audiences sure aren’t.
So you’ve heard about the North Korean hack, the self-imposed ban, and all the general hoo-ha surrounding this film.
As always, the facts are a lot less exciting. In fact, The Interview is just a pretty flat, run-of-the-mill Seth Rogen comedy (think Green Hornet, though not quite as bad).
Franco plays lightweight clickbait talk show host Dave Skylark; Rogen is his slightly more serious producer.
North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un is the show’s number one fan: as his nuclear missiles threaten America, the pair hatches a plan to interview him and bring a little credibility to their gutter-crawling program.
Enter the CIA, which wants the pair to take the opportunity to assassinate the foreign leader.
So far so good … but somehow none of this ever quite hits the mark.
There are a few funny moments, but it’s not particularly LOL, as the young people say.
Credit to Lizzy Kaplan, who does her best as a sexy CIA agent with an ongoing theme of whether or not she is “honeypotting” the pair – probably the funniest ongoing gag in the film.
Could it have been better? Quite simply, yes – with a 100 per cent reduction in the Rogen count.
– Jason Beck
