10 Films That Don't Live Up To Great Premises

There's no doubt that Seth Rogen, James Franco and co-writer Evan Goldberg knew they were being agitators when they released The Interview, but it's unlikely they realized the kind of backlash North Korea would aim their way.

According to the Korean Central News Agency, King Jon-Un's regime would unleash "stern" and "merciless" retaliation if the film ever saw the light of day. This may have stymied its release - it was buried with a limited theatrical run on Christmas with an edited cut of the dictator's gruesome death scene - but it still managed to be Sony's most successful digital release.

However, like most films that market themselves as "the movie they don't want you to see", it's not a politically-charged diatribe or a plea for regime change - it's largely innocuous. The politics are there, but shallow, and it's primarily a vehicle for Rogen and Franco's stoner banter. Critical reviews claimed it was somewhere between "agreeable", "inessential" or "as funny as a communist food shortage."