Interview

Interview (Steve Buscemi, 2007) [4]

This film simply isn't that good because it gets too bogged down in its own conceit. A remake of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh's film of the same name, which admittedly I haven't seen, it takes the surface vapidity of the celebrity interview and tries to make something meaningful and provoking out of it. The problem for me is that none of it really has any truth to it. The film and the actions of the two main characters, the less than enthused reporter played by Buscemi and the tabloid fixture actress played by Sienna Miller, are all just means to execute its conceit. The film sets up these characters with their pre-conceived notions about each other, they don't take the other seriously, the interview is a waste of time, etc., and then allows a series of events to happen to let each one dig into the realm of the personal. It's a way for each to have their true character revealed in all the snarky, detestable means possible. It frankly becomes boring after a while; not simply because it's all talk, it's more than that. None of what comes out of Buscemi and Miller's characters' mouths sounds believable to me. It one after another of loaded lines and scenes that help break down the wall between the characters set up at the start and set up and set up the twist at the end. There is nothing really that revealing or profound coming out of their mouths. All it really shows is how unlikable these characters really are. Buscemi's reporter has integrity issues and comes across more as a lecherous loser than an reporter trying to break down an actress's false exterior. Miller is actually pitch perfect playing a spoiled actress who really isn't that good of one and uses her tabloid exploitation to gain fame more than credibility. Somehow, it doesn't seem like she was stretching herself too much in playing the role. Normally, I don't have a problem with characters who are unlikable but these characters are such solely to set up the film's story. They're petulant, spoiled and have no real connection to reality under the "truths" they supposedly spout. While Interview clearly wants to dig deeper into the process, it actually comes away with nothing more than what it sets out to deconstruct.