Fish and Cherries Productions

It’s impossible to talk about The Interview without touching on the controversy surrounding it. The real life Kim Jong-un threatened repercussions if the film was released. Other people promised “9/11-style terror” to theaters that showed it. Sony itself was hacked and pulled the movie in the face of danger. Celebrities and the press jumped right down their throat as a response. But after all that, the movie where Seth Rogen and James Franco try to assassinate Kim Jong-un got its Christmas release. And… it’s pretty much Pineapple Express on steroids and with a bit more bite. But seeing as I liked Pineapple Express, I mean that in a good way.

In a way, the film’s reputation and infamy have outgrown it to the point where its quality and proposed offensiveness can’t possibly live up to the notoriety. Rogen and Franco aren’t two douchebags who get drunk one day and decide to assassinate North Korea’s dictator, but a TV personality and his producer who get roped into the CIA’s assassination plot because the two happened to get a rare interview with the target. Even then, the movie is smart enough to say, “Um, you can’t just take the guy out and expect everything to just solve itself.” That’s part of what makes the movie interesting, being smart and stupid at the same time (stupid in that Seth Rogen movies seem contractually obligated to have a certain amount of bodily humor). Oddly enough, they were even smart enough to give Kim Jong-un a three-dimensional portrayal rather than just make him a mustache-twirling scumbag. I don’t see this as trying to say that everyone has good in them and should be given a chance, but that even guys who do horrible things can still come off as nice and amicable. I think that’s a lesson that a lot of people could take to heart.

Admittedly, through the first part of the movie, I honestly thought the jokes were mostly just okay and that James Franco’s character was a little insufferable. But in the later part of the movie, everything kicked into overdrive. I had at least a laugh a minute, and the character actually wound up having something of an arc. Some people have a problem with the fact that they made a comedy about killing a person who’s still alive, but I had none. When someone treats their people as bad as Kimmy does, I have no problem sticking it to them any way I can. Also, I don’t recall anyone having a problem back when South Park killed the still-living Saddam Hussein and turned him into Satan’s gay lover.

Really, it comes down to this: Did you enjoy Pineapple Express or This Is The End? If so, then you’ll like this in all its raunchy glory. Is it propaganda? Yes, but it’s done right and has the know-how to portray the North Korean people as the victims of a powerful force and who don’t need another government to intervene to save them. If you’re sick of Seth Rogen comedies, this might not do much for you. But if you’re into that sort of thing, give it a look and enjoy the uncomfortable laughs.