Unless one either works for the DPRK or sympathizes with them, Seth Rogen’s The Interview probably won’t seem as offensive to most people as many Looney Tunes propaganda shorts form the 1940’s, despite perhaps being a raunchier modern day version of one. James Franco’s talk show host Dave Skylark is vain, egotistical, suicidally stupid at times and lacks a proper attention span as much as Daffy Duck. Rogen plays his show producer Aaron Rapaport, similar to Bugs Bunny in The Looney Tunes Show (I still think it was underrated) as both a somewhat goofy straight man and Skylark’s babysitter.
Don’t laugh, you know I’m right.
Despite their success, Rapoport isn’t satisfied with covering what he eventually comes to view as fluff journalism and useless celebrity gossip (an opening sequence where Eminem plays himself gives us one of the funniest moments of the film). He initially jumps at a chance to possibly interview one of Skylark Tonight’s biggest fans in the form of Kim Jong-Un, played very well by Randall Park as both a royal brat and a snake oil salesmen who charms his adversaries- and perhaps by extension the audience.
The more he learns about the details of the upcoming interview, the more Rapaport’s reluctance grows, especially when a CIA agent (Lizzy Caplan) tries to talk the dopey duo into arranging the event into an assassination attempt. Being both a fearless journalist and too stupid to live, Skylark’s excitement only rises with every new detail and every other bizarre event that befalls them.
There’s nothing subversive about The Interview, it doesn’t aspire to being much beyond a standard Rogen and Franco romp that obviously lampoons both Jong-Un and tabloid media. The slapstick quota gets a major boost this time with a number of gross out gags and sex routines, and I think a lot of it will depend on how funny the audience finds Rogen’s misery and discomfort. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself rubbing your hands in sympathy towards the end, and you may never think of Robocop in the same way again.
Franco makes Skylark into a pretty entertaining manchild character, brainless but always confident that he’s doing the right thing, and his chemistry with Park is probably the movie’s strongest aspect. Rogen’s fling with a propaganda officer (Diana Bang) is kinda cute, but there’s more focus on the relationship between him and Franco, with plenty of lovey-dovey talk from the latter.
The movie doesn’t say much that America isn’t already aware of- we all know the Kim family are scumbags and that Rogen is a lovable lout. If I did learn something new, it’s that James Franco can seriously channel the essence of WWE’s The Miz. I doubt it was intentional, but there was a lot of him in Dave Skylark, straight up. I’d call this an okish but fairly forgettable dude-comedy, mildly recommended unless you’re a big fan of the two leads.