CREDIT: COLUMBIA PICTURES
Wrought with controversy, The Interview was digitally released on December 24 following the Sony hack and terrorist threats.

LONDON — If Dr. Stranglove, Judd Apatow and North Korea had a threesome, The Interview would be the result. In one of the most controversial films of the year, the stoner comedy that popularized Seth Rogen and James Franco in Pineapple Express meets the kind of too-soon political humour of a game of Cards Against Humanity for a combination that will offend as much as it jokes.

Dave Skylark (James Franco) and Aaron Rapoport (Seth Rogen) are the creators of a tabloid talk show with Skylark as an over-thetop frontman and Rapoport as his producer. While Rapoport desires to create a more credible form of journalism, Skylark is content with his shock-and-awe interviews – an interesting metaphor for the film itself which bounces between highbrow political satire and Rogen’s more familiar dick jokes. Here, Rogen is the straight man and Franco plays the self-indulgent idiot.

When Rapoport manages to use Skylark’s popularity to land an interview with North Korea’s eternal dictator Kim Jong-un (Randall Park), the two are contacted by CIA operative Agent Lacey (Lizzy Caplan), who wants the blundering duo to assassinate the mad tyrant. However, the film itself takes shots at a lot more than just Kim Jong-un.

The Interview is an absolutely vicious satire mocking everything from tabloid journalism and the public that feeds off of it to American interventionist foreign policy to the international political climate surrounding nuclear weapons. It’s definitely a more intellectual direction for Rogen and his Point Grey Pictures, who have been known for their bro-comedy schtick, but it lacks the cynicism that made satires like Dr. Strangelove so biting.

The comedy set pieces work better here than they did in Rogen’s previous film, Neighbors. Rapoport’s confrontation with a tiger and an air-dropped care package, Skylark being sucked in by Kim Jong-un’s cult of personality and an awkward no-handsies sex scene provide some of the film’s funniest moments. Filmgoers hungry for more of the same dick joke, gross-out comedy humour that Rogen does so well will not be left starving here.

Sony pulled The Interview was pulled from theatres after a North Korean cyber-terrorist group threatened attacks on movie theatres. It would be easy to say that the North Koreans are being uptight assholes about the film – but as the film repeatedly points out, Kim Jong-un actually tells his people that he does not poo or pee and subsequently has no butthole. Therefore, it would be more accurate to say that North Korea takes no shit – if only Sony had operated by the same modus operandi this film might have got the wide release it deserves.

To be fair, it’s understandable why North Korea is offended about this film. The Interview will likely leave many more offended once more people are able to see it. Comedy uses characters who are moronic, stupid or unlikable to undermine society – when building a mythology around a heroic dictator, laughter is the greatest enemy.

As far back as Aristotle, comedy worked by revealing the flaws of a system but reconstituting the established order. Despite revealing the illegitimate nature of the status quo, it is maintained. The one flaw in The Interview is the bromance between Skylark and Rapoport is the centrepiece.

What should be the focus is the satire of political dictatorship and continuing nuclear war paranoia, the film would have benefited from a more critically-thoughtful ending. Katy Perry playing over a slow-motion helicopter vs. tank showdown may be this generation’s version of Vera Lynn playing over nuclear detonations, but it should have made a better statement.

The satire doesn’t go far enough but The Interview is still one of the strongest comedies of the year. Rogen and Franco show that they are willing to reach in new directions with their humour and their efforts deserve praise.