After falling out with his editor, a fading political journalist is forced to interview America's most popular soap actress.
Director:
Steve Buscemi
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Title: Interview (2007)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Steve Buscemi | ... | Pierre Peders | |
| Sienna Miller | ... | Katya | |
| Michael Buscemi | ... | Robert Peders | |
| Tara Elders | ... | Maggie | |
 |
David Schechter | ... | Maitre'd |
| Molly Griffith | ... | Waitress | |
| Elizabeth Bracco | ... | Woman at Restaurant | |
| James Villemaire | ... | Man at Restaurant | |
|
|
Jackson Loo | ... | Fan at Restaurant |
| Craig muMs Grant | ... | Cab Driver (as muMs) | |
| Doc Dougherty | ... | Truck Driver | |
| Donna Hanover | ... | Commentator | |
| Wayne Wilcox | ... | Hunky Actor | |
|
|
Danny Schechter | ... | Political Pundit |
| Philippe Vonlanthen | ... | Autograph Seeker #1 | |
Everyone wants a piece of a celebrity. Pierre is a political reporter, assigned to write a fluff piece on Katya, a blond who acts in slasher movies and a Fox show about single girls in the city. The interview, at a restaurant, goes badly: she's late, he's unprepared and rude. After leaving, he bangs his head in a fender bender and she takes him to her loft to clean the wound. Lubricated by alcohol and competitive natures, the interview resumes. She takes phone calls from her fiancé, Pierre reads her diary on her computer. They discuss wounds, he expresses concern, father-daughter feelings arise. Out come camcorders to tape their darkest secrets. Is friendship or more in the offing? Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Interview proves itself an actor's dream. Co-written and directed by Steve Buscemi, the film is an insightful, at times intense exploration of the nature of celebrity, as experienced by a world-wearied, overly cocksure political journalist who'd do well not to underestimate his beautiful interviewee.
Buscemi is Pierre, the flailing reporter who begrudgingly finds himself waiting to interview Katya (Sienna Miller), the latest in a long line of flash-in-the-pan Hollywood It Girls. As played by Miller, Katya is a charming, supercilious, seductive, wild-tempered, pouting, screaming enigma, proving much more densely layered than the Paris Hilton clone who first presents herself to Pierre at the restaurant an hour late, tiny handbag yapping with the sound of a miniature dog mobile ringtone. While it's clear the uninterested and impolite Pierre initially cares very little for his subject, a strange relationship begins to emerge between the unlikely pair as the evening takes a turn for the unexpected, with an injured Pierre invited back to Katya's spacious loft. Once here, moods swing violently, old wounds re-open and skeletons emerge from closets, an uneasy air of sexual tension underscoring the proceedings.
Buscemi is certainly an excellent director of actors, himself not only in fine, sharply skewed form, but also earning from Miller possibly her best performance to date. This is literally a two-character piece, and thanks to the powers of both actors, Interview remains in constant command of our attention. If there's one complaint, it's that the film at times feels overly stagey, but this is a small grievance when weighed against the superior performances on show. The hand-held digital camera-work ably services a voyeuristic plot, and the script crackles with caustic repartee.
The remake of a film by murdered Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gough, Interview is a tight, engaging drama with a thick nasty streak and an acutely barbed final act. It's a fine showcase for both Buscemi the actor and the filmmaker, and promises excellent things to come from Miller.