A few days ago Netflix started to screen the notoriously controversial movie “The Interview,” starring Seth Rogan and James Franco. The duo act as a television personality and producer, bent on getting the interview of lifetime, from North Koreas leader Kim Jong Un.
The comedy sheds light on the devastating living environments in North Korea and made international headlines when North Korea hacked or so the government says into the Sony networks and threatened violence against any theater that was thinking about showing the film on its original release date on Christmas.
As a result the movie is rapidly growing on the Internet both in legal and illegal downloads accumulating 5 times as much versus theater ticket sales according to an article on Forbes.com. The entire movie has grossed $15 million at the digital box office versus $2.8 million at the actual box office. With a $44 million budget, the film has yet to make back half of what it cost to produce the film according to same article.
The movie stars Franco who plays a ambitious and bubbly nighttime television host named Dave Skylark and Rogan plays the shows producer.
After getting news that the supreme leader of North Korea is a major fan of Dave Skylarks television show called “Skylark Tonight,” the two embark on the perilous journey of obtaining an interview with Kim Jong Un, played by Randall Park.
Along the way, Skylark and Rapoport come in contact with the CIA and get recruited to assassinate the North Korean leader with a poison strip attached to their hands and distributed upon hand shaking, the end result would be an untraceable death in 12 hours. Things do not go as planned and that is where the hilarity ensues.
The duo stars from the classic comedy “Pineapple Express,” continue their budding friendship that can be seen in the raunchy humorous back and forth in the dialogue of the film.
When Skylark and Kim Jong Un first meet, the two get along well and even find some interests like Katy Perry’s song “Firework.” Skylark is manipulated into thinking that North Korea is a strong and thriving place. All the while enjoying some of the perks of being the supreme leader like plethoras of women and unlimited margaritas.
In reality Kim Jong Un is masking what the Americans see to be hospitable. Eventually the serious undertones of this goofy movie are addressed and the relationship with Kim Jong Un diminishes when his true colors show.
“The Interview,” caused much controversy because of the possibly nuclear implications with a secluded North Korea and because the hacking on Sony and the promise of violence upon release date. These issues brought up the topic of the constitution and the right to freedom of speech as well as its limitations.
This film could possibly be a glimpse into the future of online digital movie marketing and distribution. However because of the release date issues and the fact that the movie was pulled from being shown a day before the original release date, it is unsure if this is indeed the new age model of digital media distribution. Right now in this digital age, the act of physically going out, buying a ticket and seeing a movie is still more appealing than buying and streaming a movie at home.
All serious issues aside, the movie is quite goofy and has some really funny scenes with jokes that point out cultural differences. “The Interview,” does its best to poke fun at a very serious situation.
