Film Review: "The Interview" (2014).

From the first lines "Our Beloved Leader is wise. He is gentle, kind and strong… And the one thing in our time, we wish more than this is for the United States to explode in a ball of fiery hell. May they be forced to starve and beg, and be ravaged by disease. May they be helpless, poor and sad and cold! They are arrogant and fat. They are stupid and they're evil. May they drown in their own blood and feces. Die America, die. Oh please won't you die… May your women all be raped by beasts of the jungle while your children are foooorced to watch!" You know what you're in for with The Interview, it'll will be... the craziest s*** you'll ever see. This political satire comedy film directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, with a screenplay by Dan Sterling, from a story by Rogen, Goldberg and Sterling. The film follows Dave Skylark and producer Aaron Rapoport, who run the celebrity tabloid show Skylark Tonight. When they land an interview with a surprise fan, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, they are recruited by the CIA to turn their trip to Pyongyang into an assassination mission.

Everybody is aware that this comedy has been plagued by enormous controversy. For those who are not aware of this, on June 2014, the North Korean government threatened "merciless" action against the United States if the film's distributor, Columbia Pictures, went ahead with the release. Columbia delayed the release from October 10 to December 25, and reportedly edited the film to make it more acceptable to North Korea. In November, the computer systems of parent company Sony Pictures Entertainment were hacked by the Guardians of Peace, a group the FBI believes has tied to North Korea. After leaking several other then-upcoming Sony films and other sensitive internal information, the group demanded that Sony pull The Interview, which it referred to as "the movie of terrorism". On December 16, 2014, the Guardians of Peace threatened terrorist attacks against cinemas that played the film. On December 17, after a number of major North American cinema chains canceled screenings in the interest of safety, Sony canceled the film's theatrical release, drawing criticism from the media, Hollywood figures and U. S. President Barack Obama. After initially stating that it had no plans to release the film, Sony made the film available for online rental and purchase on December 24, and via a limited release at selected cinemas on December 25.

The film stars James Franco as Skylark, Seth Rogan as Rapoport, Lizzy Caplan as Agent Lacey, Randall Park as Kim Jong-un and Diana Bang as Sook. The cast have hilarious performances, however I can not help but to comment on the ridiculous acting. Especially with the Asian cast. Their performances did not match the comedy power that Franco and Rogan possess. On top of that, their ridiculous imitation of the Korean language and custom did not impress at all and were just plain atrocious. In addition, the chemistry between Rogan and Bang had no spark whatsoever and they were, by far, the weirdest couple I have ever seen on screen.

The Interview will either offend you or leave you in stitches. It'll probably do both. There are good, fun parts in the film, but the language won’t be to everybody’s liking. I thought it was pretty clever, despite it being profane and sometimes bitingly funny.

Simon says The Interview receives:

Also, see my review for This is the End.