Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this intense indie drama is filled with very adult themes, including war crimes, drug abuse, and suicide. Sienna Miller plays a lightweight actress who stars in a vapid TV show and gore-filled slasher flicks, but her character's personality is brutal and manipulative. So is that of the other main character, Pierre -- who, as a journalist, is ostensibly supposed to tell the truth (though by his own admission, he doesn't). No nudity, but there's plenty of sexualized banter, some of which is laced with incestuous overtones. Also expect liberal use of cigarettes, drugs, and alcohol, and frequent swearing ("f--k," "s--t," and the like).
Families can talk about the film's depiction of celebrities and how they live. Does it seem realistic? What about the media's attitude toward them? Why do tabloids "have" to chronicle stars' every waking moment -- and why do the celebs put up with it? What do they get in return? And what fuels our fascination with them in the first place? It's worth noting that Miller has been a fixture in the gossip columns. Did you have any preconceived notions about how she'd be in this movie based on what you've read about her? Also, keeping magazine articles you've read in mind, do you think celebrity interviews ever spiral into the drama-filled mess that this movie portrays?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: S. Jhoanna Robledo
Let it not be said that Sienna Miller is untalented. Playing a certain type of semi-skilled actress that tabloids and bloggers love to rake over the coals (not unlike the way she herself has been handled in the past), Miller is supremely confident, emotionally available, and eminently watchable in INTERVIEW. As Katya (just Katya), she's an able foil -- and foe -- for once-successful war correspondent Pierre Peders (Steve Buscemi) in Buscemi's remake of late Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh's movie.
Pierre's career is on the wane. Angry that he's been demoted to celebrity-profiler status, he botches an interview with Katya at a trendy bistro when he makes it plain he has no interest in her and hasn't even bothered to prepare. Worse, she appears to be everything he disdains about actresses: superficially nice, entitled, and late for her appointments. She downs her drink, they wrestle for the check, and off they go in different directions.
But as fate would have it -- he gets into a cab driven by a Katya fan, who promptly crashes into a parked car when he spots her strolling home -- the interview is, in fact, not yet over. Feeling semi-responsible for his injury, Katya invites Pierre to her spacious, celeb-worthy loft, where the real games begin.
What unfolds is a twisted pas de deux fueled by too much drink and drugs. The two trade barbs -- David Mamet-style, but in slow-mo (and not as highbrow) -- eager to get the upper hand in the conversation. Miller's Katya is an ultimate actress, her mood lurching from high to low as she sees fit (or necessary). She seduces and provokes, prodding Pierre verbally and physically to reach a thespian's ultimate goal: Make him notice. And that he does.
Pierre, though professing no interest in the assignment, eventually comes to want what all journalists do: the big get. And he will stoop as low and break as many ethical rules as he needs to get it. (Which is not to say he does.)
The stars' acting trumps the movie's few flaws. The premise pulls you in, but it's kind of hard to believe that an actress -- especially one hounded by the press -- would knowingly invite a reporter into her apartment, especially with no entourage around for quality control. It's equally unbelievable that a reporter who once covered war-torn Sarajevo wouldn't recognize a major battle when he sees it, never mind how pretty and perfumed the enemy is. (He downplays Katya way too soon and too much.)
With only two main characters who are pretty much stuck in one spot, Interview can sometimes feel static, though it certainly avoids becoming claustrophobic. The father-daughter sub-plot feels contrived (paging Dr. Freud!), and the ending is strangely depleted of energy. Still, it's riveting. Perhaps magazine profiles would be that much more interesting to read if interviews did turn out to be the big free-for-all as this one does.
For more dialogue-heavy films with characters playing cat-and-mouse games, try Two Girls and a Guy, Out of Sight, or even Silence of the Lambs.
Rate It!
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| CS | adults | kids | ||
Sexual ContentNo outright nudity, but lots of references to sex (for example, Pierre recounts in detail how a transvestite performed a sexual act on him). Two women kiss briefly. Pierre and Katya kiss each other (aggressively) and, once, he positions himself between her legs. She struts in front of him, obviously trying to seduce him (but later, she tells him he looks like her father -- and he tells her she reminds him of his daughter). |
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ViolencePierre gets into a car accident and hurts his head; lots of screaming between the main characters; Katya hits Pierre, and he shoves her. She also throws things at him. |
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LanguagePlenty of expletives, including "f--k" (and related versions, as in "f--kface"), "s--t," and the like. Women are referred to as "whores," plus there's one use of the word "c--t." |
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Social BehaviorBoth Katya and Pierre are ruthless and cold: They spar verbally and physically and tease each other sexually, even as they refer to each other as father and daughter (which gives those scenes a creepy, incestuous vibe). They drink too much and lie through their teeth. Some bright spots: Katya seems like a genuine friend (she comforts a pal by phone), and Pierre seems like a concerned brother when he visits his sibling in a mental institution. |
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CommercialismSome: references to Maker's Mark and Palm Pilot; a laptop computer is clearly an Apple; glimpses of brand names on water bottles and cigarettes. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoFrom beginning to end, the film is laced with substances. Both characters drink to near-oblivion (scotch, whiskey, rum -- you name it). Katya also smokes and snorts cocaine. |
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