The Interview (1995) User Reviews

Good start, mediocre end

[rcltasman · 2/10 · 30 March 2001]

The movie starts very interesting, as a kind of adventure-thriller with a journalist who is ready to give anything just to get to talk with a Father Stephen. However, once he finds the Father, it seems as if the director didn't know what to add next to the movie, and thereby changes the story of the movie so many times that in the poorly composed end you just don't know anymore what the movie was really about.

Added to this, some of the people who acted in the movie did their part so bad that it just leaves a lot to wish for.

This movie is maybe just a victim of a low-budget production, but I am sure that much more could have been done with much less, and the movie would have been better than this.

Edgy S American political drama nearly works

[E Canuck · 8/10 · 28 July 1999]

This drama about a journalist obsessively seeking to interview a "liberation theology" style of priest in Brazil held my interest to the last minute, despite its overall failings. A great film score by Phillip Glass supports the film tremendously, as does some painterly cinematography.

Patrick Bachau has great presence and credibility as Father Lewis. (This was a fascinating contrast to the only other role I knew him in, the sleazy Vic of The Rapture.)

Henry Czerny is annoyingly intense, in the front half of the film and the reasons for his character, Michael's evident hatred for and obsession with Father Lewis are never fully explored. His quest nonetheless drew me in, and I began fervently wishing for the spiritual epiphany he seems destined for but apparently does not reach. The theme of "God using us without our even knowing it" builds more successfully than the suspenseful story-line.

Many small roles are played strongly. A "good watch".