THE INTERVIEW REVIEW

The film that nearly caused a ”war”. With hype like that, it was never going to deliver up to it’s expectations. BUT it doesn’t help that it’s just not that great.

From the western capitalists that brought you Bad Neighbours and This is the End . . .

It really is what you think. Franco and Rogen apply their usual smutty spiel in a Pineapple Express meets Frost/Nixon mish-mesh.

All that controversy in the news and what do you know? It get’s released. Funny that its IMDb rating dropped from 9.2 to 6.9 after an official release date was agreed. Hmmm . . .

It’s not all bad. But my main quip with this film is that it’s the same old guff; F + R effing and jeffing, rants that go off on random tangents for far too long and, oh of course, let’s not forget the pill popping.

So what’s it about? (For those who may have missed the headlines) Dave Skylark (Franco) and producer Aaron Rapoport (Rogen) run the celebrity tabloid show “Skylark Tonight.” When they land an interview with a surprise fan, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un (Randall Park), they are recruited by the CIA to turn their trip to Pyongyang into an assassination mission.

I knew from the get go what sort of film I was in for. The cartoon credit sequence with a Korean woman tearing up the American flag. Followed by a little girl singing “Death to America” while a nuclear missile was launched behind her said it all.

James Franco was fantastic. If not for him, this film would have bombed. Did anyone else notice how rough he was looking?

However, he played the deluded celebrity TV journalist Dave Skylark to perfection. A true egotist and simpleton. It seemed a little slow to get going. An interview with Eminem (who is looking old now!) soon livened things up.

A casual conversation inadvertently outing the rapper was a surprise. I did not expect The Real Slim Shady to suggest that his lyrics were a gay peekaboo. Brilliant.

Rogen plays Skylark’s best pal and frustrated producer. Desperate to be taken seriously and deliver real news; not that Rob Lowe is bald.

There are couple of cameos from Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s previous entries which deliver the odd chuckle. I’m not going to spoil everything now.

The bromance is still very much there. Rogen and Franco are still an entertaining couple. Normally their improvising did my nut in BUT this time around, I wanted more of it. The relentless Lord of the Rings references were starting to irritate me.

BUT it all seemed to be set up for a big punch line that I couldn’t help smiling over.

The other gags weren’t so hot. The inevitable “Me-so-sorry” lines rearing their ugly heads. Okay, the “Did you say Dong?” reference got a guilty titter. The pill popping and boozing was unnecessary and unfunny.

The alluring Lizzy Caplan did her best with her stocky CIA counterpart. If not for the “Honey Pot” debate gag, anyone could have played her. Or better yet, not needed her altogether. Shame.

The training session in which the pair must practice using Ricin was interesting but not very funny. It’s scary how poison can be transferred BUT come on, I watched 24.

So a Pineapple Express meets An Interview with a Vampire. Or reclusive maniacal leader.

How was the man in question presented? Well . . .

Randall Park was fantastic as Kim Jong-un. To be honest, he was the most entertaining character in it. BUT from a political standpoint, I could see how it could cause offense. However, I think Mr. Un needs to get a sense of humour.

I mean, come on. South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, this ain’t. Hell, it doesn’t even cross Team America: World Police on the controversy scale.

He was merely a shy superfan with daddy issues. Hardly original.

Inevitably, Franco’s Skylark takes a shining to the misunderstood dictator as they bond over hookers and shooting missiles from tanks while drinking margaritas and singing to Katy Perry’s “Firework”. Yeah, you read that right.

Franco and Park were hilarious together with Rogen sitting on the sidelines. Some of Franco’s one liners were brilliant, “He’s peanut butter and jealous of us. He’s spreading KY jealous all over his balls.”

So is this really what all the fuss was about?

Well, not exactly. The final 20 minutes felt like two films meshed together and neither came off quite as well as you hoped.

The smiley superfan’s grin soon starts to crack, unearthing a demented maniac. It got a little more interesting with some actual satire. An incident involving a fake grocery store certainly got things moving in the direction I had originally expected.

There were a few moments that were just bizarre and f*cked up. They didn’t really fit in the film. Something I expected to see more in This is The End.

The strange Frost/Nixon set up at the end did throw in a few stats and suggested a little more to this chughead comedy. BUT that bubble soon burst with Jong-Un sharting on live air.

I think that controversy must have been an incredible PR stunt because beneath its fiery surface, there isn’t much else going on.

A sequence involving a drone pickup and a tiger was really funny and suspenseful. Once Diana Bang got over her “HOT” hard ass demeanour as Un’s head of communications, Sook, she was quite entertaining.

It’s big, dumb, at times quite funny but OTT and a bit of a let down.

If you were expecting something more, then you will be left disappointed. BUT if you love F + R and feel they can do no wrong then invest.

Mixed bag for me.

2.5/5

SEX TAPE REVIEW

Like any sex tape really. Overhyped. Talked about by all your friends. And not as good or as dirty as you hope or think.

As soon as it started with the alluring Cameron Diaz effing and jeffing about sex. Cue a montage of her and Jason Segel (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) in numerous sordid positions in numerous places, I feared the worst. It was OTT, stupid but most importantly not funny. I can do random, silly, crude humour. As long as it’s funny.

To be honest, it only really kicks off when the duo inevitably make the sex tape to spice up their flailing marital sex life. If you’re lucky not to have seen the trailers then some of the gags in which the pair try and outdo each sex act, it brings the odd chuckle. Diaz has proven she’s game for a laugh in the past; There’s Something About Mary, The Other Woman and boy she’s still got it at 42. Wowewewow. Anyway . . .

I could get over the fact the pair were trying to act like 20 year olds in the flashback montage because Diaz and Segel worked well together. The film only really gets going when the actual sex tape is shared across a number of iPads through a naff syncing app. A ridiculous premise in which Jay (Segel) gives away all his iPads as a charitable gesture. But that’s only because I’m tight and would have sold them for a quick buck but hey, there wouldn’t have been a movie otherwise.

Cue an anonymous text blackmailing our guilty couple and a mad hunt to seek all the iPads and deleting said tape leading to a watchable if mediocre comedy. The supporting cast were picked perfectly. Rob Lowe was fantastic and in scene stealing form. How he did all it dead pan? I will never know. His obsession with Disney characters being an unexpected but much needed gag, helped ignite this flat battery.

Incorporating himself into every Disney picture around his mansion was completely random but hilarious. The heavily advertised Alsatian fight sequence with Segel was still brilliant. And to be frank, I was laughing a lot more than I expected to and the pace soon zipped along as the madness ensued. Segel’s spiel (Didn’t mean to rhyme there) certainly improved things and made gags and one liners work when they really shouldn’t.

Rob Corddry (Hot Tub Time Machine) and Ellie Kemper (21 Jump Street) were pretty good. Cordrry in particular, delivering some belters yet again.

Robby (Corddry): Who has sex for three hours?
Jay (Segel): We did!
Robby: That’s the length of the movie “Lincoln”. You did the full Lincoln.

A guilty laugh from me. An unexpected cameo from Jack Black was great. Black can do no wrong. Literally showing up  to spew some random porn site names. Should be dumb but funny. Desperation? Laughing at porn site names? Maybe.

Apart from the odd one liner here and the unexpected funny gag there, the rest of it does reek of desperation. Swearing, drug use and shagging thrown in to make up for the lack of . . . anything really. The kid actors were wasted (Not literally) and were highly unmemorable. Well it can’t be helped when the biggest kids in the film are the parents. Sebastian Hedges Thomas made the most memorable impression as the little sod (Trying to keep it clean) Clive.

The commentary and debate about couples losing their sex life as soon as they get married wasn’t a bad concept. We got a little tidbit of depth with our couple as Diaz and Segel juggle busy schedules, work and kids but it’s soon soiled by, “When shall we pencil in to fuck?”. Delightful. NOT.

It zips along and certainly kills 90-odd minutes. Not the worst film I’ve seen by the way critics are laying into this. I don’t know why snobby toffs would even bother seeing films like this. It was always going to be slated. Sometimes big dumb movies are a great release. Switch your brain off and relax. Unfortunately this one was killing my brain until the gags finally got going.

2/5 for me