It's very hard to be impartial when watching The Interview, the latest by Seth Rogen and James Franco. Everyone knows the story, involving hacks and a North Korean controversy and theaters pulling it. And then you watch the movie and think to yourself, what's the big deal? It's just a pretty good but not great comedy that's very stupid. And the hype gives it legitimacy it probably doesn't deserve.
But the film does have problems not related to a clusterf*ck of a release. Mainly it's not that funny. This Is The End and Neighbors are far superior, and although it goes batsh*t crazy near the end, you just end up wishing there was more of THAT. Franco really hams it up, and early on it's a little off-putting but by the end his Ryan Seacrest like character is pretty great. Both the asian actors, Randall Park who kills it as Kim Jong-Un and Diana Bang who slays it as Sook are real stand outs. But Seth Rogen, who has been very solid this year, kinda coasts here. Yes he co-directed the movie, but he feels just underwhelming. But it's a interesting concept that mostly lands the execution. It could have been more, but it could have been so much worse. Good enough.