New The Interview Movie Received Mixed Reviews From Major Critics
Columbia Pictures (Sony) released their new, highly controversial comedy film, “The Interview,” into theaters 2 days ago, December 25th, and all the reviews have been submitted by the top, major movie critics. The results turned out to be quite mixed with an overall 51 score out of a possible 100 across 24 reviews at the Metacritic.com site.
The film stars: James Franco, Seth Rogen, Lizzy Caplan and Randall Park. We’ve provided blurbs from a few of the critics, below.
Richard Roeper from the Chicago Sun-Times, gave it a 75 score, saying: “The Interview sticks to the anything-for-a-laugh plan for nearly the entire journey, with far too many jokes about things going in and coming out of rear ends.”
Peter Travers over at Rolling Stone, gave it 75 grade too, stating: “It’s stupid. It’s in bad taste. It impossible. I know all that. Look, Quentin Tarantino killed Hitler in “Inglourious Basterds” and the neo-Nazis stayed quiet. It’s a farce, people.”
G. Allem Johnson from the San Francisco Chronicle, gave it a 75 score. He stated: “No matter what you think of dumb comedies, The Interview, thanks allegedly to Kim, has gone from disposable to indispensible cinema. It’s a must-see movie in the context of what has happened, and will spark a discussion of, in comedy, how far is too far?”
Joe Neumaier over at the New York Daily News, gave it a 60 grade, saying: ” Real-life geopolitical blunders aside, The Interview generally hits its marks. And every time it does skid into juvenile idiocy — with too much scatological humor, for instance, and an overuse of “you-go-bro!” attitude — it follows it with a stride or two toward uproarious meta-satire.”
Alonso Duralde from TheWrap, gave it a 52 score, stating: ” While The Interview never slacks in its mission to tell jokes, it’s such a messy and meandering movie that it never quite lands as a satire of politics or the media or anything else.”
A.O. Scott over at The New York Times, gave it a 50 grade. He said: “The Interview is pretty much what everyone thought it would be before all the trouble started: a goofy, strenuously naughty, hit-and-miss farce, propelled not by any particular political ideas but by the usual spectacle of male sexual, emotional and existential confusion.”
Sara Stewart at the New York Post, gave it a 50 score, saying: “Hate to say it, but this film ain’t half the satire it could have been.”
Joe McGovern from Entertainment Weekly, gave it a 50 grade, stating: ” It’s a pity that the film is bereft of satiric zing, bludgeoning the laughs with a nonstop sledgehammer of bro humor.”
Todd McCarthy over at The Hollywood Reporter, gave it a 50 grade, saying: ” An intensely sophomoric and rampantly uneven comic takedown of an easy but worrisomely unpredictable target.”
Claudia Puig at USA Today, gave it a 50 grade. She said: “Considering the controversy and chaos Sony Pictures Studios is undergoing because of it, The Interview fails to live up to the hype, floundering as a rowdy comedy as it grows duller by the minute.”
Scott Foundas from Variety, gave it a 30 grade. He stated: “An alleged satire that’s about as funny as a communist food shortage, and just as protracted.”
Finally, Joe Morgenstern from the Wall Street Journal, gave it a very bad 20 score, saying: ” In the real world, a debate has been raging over what does and doesn’t constitute torture. In the movie world, there’s no debate; watching The Interview is torture from almost start to finish.” Stay tuned. Also, get your favorite Movie stuff, and more by Clicking Here.
