Interview Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)July 20th, 2007
INTERVIEW
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2007 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
In INTERVIEW, Steve Buscemi and Sienna Miller (CASANOVA) star in an entertaining two-person talkfest that's a cute blend of comedy and drama. Light and breezy like an interview out of "People" magazine, the movie has its intense moments but never deludes itself into thinking it's Shakespeare. It feels more like a play than a movie, but it doesn't come across as stagy or awkward, since both characters are interesting and genuine and the acting is excellent.
Buscemi plays Pierre Peters, a News World reporter on an assignment he resents. A hotshot political reporter, Pierre is used to appearing on talk shows where he can comment on the weighty issues of the day.
But, for the first time ever, Pierre's editor has stuck him with doing a puff piece on a hot celebrity, Katya (Miller), the star of KILLER BODY 4 and "City Girls," a popular television soap. Katya owns New York, at least in her mind. When someone is sitting at "her" table in a trendy restaurant, she arranges to have the maitre d' move the people currently seated at it, so that she can be more at ease in her interview with Pierre.
Pierre hasn't even bothered to read her resume or watch any of the screeners that Katya's publicists have sent him. Since he doesn't want to be there, he doesn't waste any time on preparation. He goes into the interview so cold that he doesn't know a single thing about Katya, nor has he seen anything that she has ever appeared in.
Of course, the interview goes very badly. So badly, in fact, that Katya ends it abruptly.
The movie really takes off after the brief first act at the restaurant. A small bump on the head in an accident gets Pierre invited back to Katya's loft apartment in order to recover. Once there, they begin to interview each other, while Katya starts to flirt with Pierre. "There's a computer over there," she tells him, so that he can finally do his missing prep work. "You can google me."
Pierre is angry about having to write this silly piece on Katya, and she is a cocaine-snorting actress who secretly realizes that her fame comes more from her beauty than her abilities. But, as the night progresses, we come more and more to find out how similar they both are.
The nice ending twists are like frosting on a fluffy cake -- not really necessary, but tasty nonetheless.
INTERVIEW runs a fast 1:23. It is rated PG-13 for "language including sexual references, and some drug use" and would be acceptable for teenagers.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, August 10, 2007.
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