The Interview will go down in history as the movie that very nearly provoked a war between North Korea and the US - whether that's close to the truth or not. After all, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's irreverent comedy came to the attention of pretty much everyone on the planet after North Korea - following on from their heavily-publicised hack on Sony Pictures in December 2014 - threatened to attack the United States should the movie find its way into theatres. Which meant that The Interview suddenly found itself poised as a sort of symbol of defiance against North Korea and dictator Kim Jong-un; people wanted to see the movie because it was their right to see the movie, and not necessarily because they wanted to. So, yes, The Interview got far more attention than it would have had Kim Jong-un taken it all in good humour (yeah, right), which - in turn - seemed to played a part in the way the movie was received by critics. Though it's certainly not a timeless work of political satire like Chaplin's The Great Dictator or - yes - Trey Parker and Matt Stone's Team America: World Police, The Interview is - for the most part - funny stuff. Or, at least, it's entirely watchable from start to finish, and absolutely nowhere near as terrible as its 50% Rotten Tomatoes score might try to convince you; there is some genuinely intelligent satire to be found in and amongst all the scatological jokes. Really. One of The Interview's most admirable qualities stems from its surprisingly "human" depiction of Kim Jong-un, who - despite his tyrannical tendencies - is shown to be an insecure man-child who'd really prefer to spend his days listening to Katy Perry and drinking margaritas. The relationship that unfolds between James Franco's talkshow host Dave Skylark is - naturally - hilarious, imbuing The Interview with an unexpected emotional backbone that really works. But the comparisons between Hollywood talk shows and North Korea - excessive in their complete and utter "fakeness" - seem to have been buried beneath all the gags in the movie that don't quite work. Had the script been a little more focused in places, the satire might have felt better-realised. But it's there if you're willing to look for it. Which means that, for all its flaws, The Interview is a far more intelligent and biting movie than it appears on the surface.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
