That's right. Netflix is now streaming "The Interview" so I could watch this new movie way before it would otherwise have been available on this site.
I saw "This is the End" only a month ago so I full well knew what to expect with a Rogen/Franco flick and believe me "The Interview" did not detract from my expectations. It was everything I hoped for and more.
I love irreverent "12-year-old" crass humor if it's done right. And that's pretty difficult to achieve. Fart jokes and sexually-explicit rants and digs can easily get either dumb or offensive. Some would say they always are but I digress. Much like the humor of "The Book of Mormon," the jokes in "the Interview" were indeed guttural and low-brow for the most part but they were written and performed with intelligence, wit and irony that comes across only if done by likewise witty and intelligent writers and actors.
Right away the movie delivers us the absolutely genuinely sweet and sour mix that is the chemistry between Seth Rogen and James Franco. These guys are the next big comic duo should they continue making these "buddy" films. In one of the first scenes we see Franco's character as a slightly buffoonish celeb-interview TV show host "live" on-the-air as he talks with his guest Eminem (played by Eminem himself). The crazy antics of Seth Rogen's character in the control room freaking out while Franco's character is near freaking out on the set as Eminem nonchalantly comes out of the closet is pure gold. I actually think this is what would happen "behind-the-scenes" if something like this took place on a show like this IRL.
With this opener, we're introduced to the madness of the non-stop in-jokes that this movie will continue to time-after-time deliver in each of its subsequent scenes. The exquisite jewels of unbelievably quotable lines are cinematic orgasms that had me, literally, rolling on the floor laughing. Here are some of the ones from this initial scene featuring TV show host Dave Skylark (Franco) interviewing recording artist Eminem with Aaron Rappaport (Rogen) in the control room:
Skylark: Wait, wait...let's just back it up a moment. Did you just say that you were gay? Just curious what you meant by that exactly?
Eminem: I mean I'm gay.
Skylark: Ah, I'm just a little confused here 'cause gay can mean a lot of things.
Eminem: I am a homosexual.
Skylark: (scrunched up look on his face) Meaning?...
Eminem: I like men.
Control booth guy: What the fuck just happened?!
Rappaport: Eminem just said he was gay. Four times. That's what the fuck just happened! Holy shit! Eminem's gay on our show! Eminem's gay on our show! (jumps up and down with glee)
Eminem: It's kinda like I been playin' gay peek-a-boo.
Skylark: Gay peek-a-boo, (makes peek-a-boo hands to face gesture)
After a brief control room struggle with Eminem's publicist, Rappaport speaks to Skylark through his earpiece reciting rap lyrics that now seem obviously telling.
Skylark: (to Eminem) What did you mean when you rapped "I said nice rectum. (etc.)"
Eminem: I pretty much been leavin' a bread crumb trail of gayness.
Eminem: But actually, Hector...Hector was real.
Skylark: Hector and his rectum were real?
Chyron on TV monitor now reads "HECTOR'S RECTUM IS REAL"
Staff in control room all burst out in high-fives and screaming "Hector's rectum is real!"
After the show is over, Rappaport and Skylark buddy hug in sheer amazement at their interview gold nugget.
Skylark: What the fuck just happened?!
Rappaport: The real Slim Shady just stood up, that's what the fuck just happened!
Skylark: This is like Spike Lee just said he's white!
This is some funny shit right here. And Eminem was a true sport to be in on this gag. Not to mention Rob Lowe in another fake interview exposing his hideous bald head.
And these examples are just the very beginning.
Just like "This is the End" you find yourself thinking, multiple times throughout the movie, about the viral meme quality of the lines the characters are deftly spewing. Sure, you know the writers are hoping that as they're typing this shit on their laptops but unlike some other comedy flicks where a line of dialog can come across as fake or too manufactured, these lines seem organic as if Rogen and Franco wrote them themselves. But apparently the credit goes to screenwriter Dan Sterling. How many bars did those three have to go to together (or, considering Rogen and Franco's rep, ounces of weed smoked) to get this in sync? Pro'ly too many (much).
I'm not the usually expected demographic for the movie of course. But I freakin' loved it. And to the multitude of detractors online, in print and on TV who say this movie sucked: Haters gonna hate, and ain'ters gonna ain't.