The Interview (2014)

Dave Skylark and producer Aaron Rapoport 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.

Directors:

Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen

Writers:

Dan Sterling (screenplay), Seth Rogen (story)

Stars:

James Franco, Seth Rogen, Randall Park

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Franco	...	Dave Skylark
Seth Rogen	...	Aaron Rapaport
Lizzy Caplan	...	Agent Lacey
Randall Park	...	President Kim
Diana Bang	...	Sook
Timothy Simons	...	Malcolm
Reese Alexander	...	Agent Botwin
James Yi	...	Officer Koh
Paul Bae	...	Officer Yu
Geoff Gustafson	...	Cole
Dominique Lalonde	...	Jackie
Anesha Bailey	...	Janet
Anders Holm	...	Jake
Charles Rahi Chun	...	General Jong
Don Chow	...	Two-Fingered Man

Storyline

In the action-comedy The Interview, Dave Skylark (James Franco) and his producer Aaron Rapoport (Seth Rogen) run the popular celebrity tabloid TV show "Skylark Tonight." When they discover that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is a fan of the show, they land an interview with him in an attempt to legitimize themselves as journalists. As Dave and Aaron prepare to travel to Pyongyang, their plans change when the CIA recruits them, perhaps the two least-qualified men imaginable, to assassinate Kim Jong-un.

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Plot Keywords:

assassination attempt | exploding helicopter | finger bitten off | dictator | communist dictatorship | 

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Taglines:

Their trip to North Korea just went south.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive language, crude and sexual humor, nudity, some drug use and bloody violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Google/YouTube Premiere Release

Country:

USA

Language:

English Korean

Release Date:

24 December 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

Una loca entrevista

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$44,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$1,085,515 (USA) (2 January 2015)

Gross:

$6,105,175 (USA) (23 January 2015)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, LStar Capital, Point Grey Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

On June 25, 2014, North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency condemned the film (without naming it), promising a "merciless" retaliation if the film is released. "Making and releasing a film on a plot to hurt our top-level leadership is the most blatant act of terrorism and war and will absolutely not be tolerated," KCNA said, citing a government spokesman.

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Goofs

During the actual interview between Dave Skylark and Kim Jong-Un, Sook and Aaron Rapaport produce the show. However, when the control booth is emptied, the camera angles continue to change in the broadcast.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Korean Girl: [singing] Our Beloved Leader is wise. He is gentle, kind and strong. We wish him joy. We wish him peace. We wish him love. 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...

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Crazy Credits

The end credits feature the following disclaimer:

"This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and locations portrayed and the names herein are fictitious, and any similarity to or identification with the location, name, character or history of any person, product or entity is entirely coincidental and unintentional."

However, the movie very intentionally portrays North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, along with many other real-life persons, products and entities.

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Connections

References The Outsiders (1983)

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Soundtracks

Firework
Written by Katy Perry, Ester Dean (as Esther Dean), Mikkel S. Eriksen (as Mikkel Eriksen), T.E. Hermansen (as Tor Hermansen) and Sandy Wilhelm
Performed by Jenny Lane, also performed by James Franco (uncredited)
Courtesy of Cloud 9 Music B.V.

User Reviews

Dumb and Dumber do The Interview

For the sake of film criticism, I will pretend that I watched the film without the political maelstrom that has raised it to a level of interest that it would otherwise never have attained.

This is the typical mass produced, lowbrow, comedy that Hollywood cranks out to appeal to 15-year-old boys. There are a few slapstick laughs in the tradition of the Three Stooges that break the monotony. I would not elevate the film to the level of a satire as that would imply that there was some intelligent thought behind it. There is not. All the humor, both physical and verbal, is completely obvious. It will not go down in history as one of the great comedies, which is probably what upset Kim Jung Un the most.

The attempts to make political observations are all based on time-worn points (people are starving, Kim is not a god). The sections that imply Kim has psychological problems may be more irritating to the regime. Most of the attempted humor deals with Kim fighting his homophobia and dealing with a father who gave him little support.

There is no need to comment on the acting as there really is none. No one will win an Oscar nomination here. The story is predictable: You can guess what will happen before you begin watching it. It's the kind of film you watch to see a few gags and, maybe, get a few laughs. They will be very few, indeed, unless you are 15 or under. However, knowing the media attention that this film has received, it is unlikely a poor review will stop anyone from watching it. Just remember, I warned you.