The Interview
Dave Skylark and his producer Aaron Rapaport run the celebrity tabloid show "Skylark Tonight". When they land an interview with a surprise fan, North Korean dictator Jong-Un Kim, they are recruited by the CIA to assassinate him. In the action-comedy The Interview, Dave Skylark (James Franco) and his producer Aaron Rapoport (Seth Rogen) run the popular celebrity tabloid TV show "Skylark Tonight." When they discover that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is a fan of the show, they land an interview with him in an attempt to legitimize themselves as journalists. As Dave and Aaron prepare to travel to Pyongyang, their plans change when the CIA recruits them, perhaps the two least-qualified men imaginable, to assassinate Kim Jong-un. The CIA recruits a talk-show host "James Franco" and his producer "Seth Rogen" to kill North Korean leader Kim Jong-UN in this comedy from writer/director duo Rogen and Evan Goldberg "This Is the End". Franco plays Dave Skylark, a vapid talk-show host known for chasing celebrity gossip, while Rogen is his producer Aaron Rapaport, who's desperate to do more serious journalism. When Dave discovers that North Korean leader Kim Jong-UN, played here by Randall Park is a big fan of his show, the pair decides to arrange an interview with him in order to boost their credibility. And the CIA, in turn, decide to use these two and the access they'll have to assassinate Kim. Aaron is all for it, but Dave is an easily swayed idiot who quickly falls under Kim's spell and begins to see the dictator as a wounded man-child rather than someone worth killing. Egotistical yet charismatic entertainment interviewer Dave Skylark, who has a frat boy mentality in needing the "money" moment in anything he does and who is not the brightest light in the world, was nothing until his producer of ten years, Aaron Rapaport, now his best friend, came on board his pop culture based interview television show, Skylark Tonight. After running into a former journalism school colleague, Aaron begins to lament not working in a harder hitting news milieu. As such, Aaron, after learning that the subject in question is a big fan of Dave's, convinces Dave that who he should interview is North Korean dictator Jong-Un Kim, his totalitarian regime which has just been able to achieve a missile strike reaching as far as the west coast of the United States from the Korean peninsula. Although the negotiations with the North Koreans do not end quite the way Aaron wants, he is still able to secure what will be the planned live worldwide broadcast interview, with he and Dave needing to travel to the North Korean capital of Pyongyang to do so. It is then that CIA Agents Lacey and Botwin approach Dave and Aaron with their ask for the country: for Dave to assassinate Kim, it which can never be tied back to them (much to Dave's chagrin in again wanting that money moment of glory for himself) or the United States in any way. Landing in North Korea, Dave and Aaron find that some of their preconceived perceptions are different than what they experience. As the plan starts to go sideways for one reason or another, as they have to sift through what is real and what is fantasy, as they have to sift through who and who not to trust, and as they begin to reassess what they are actually about to do and their priorities, it looks as if Dave and Aaron may not make it out this situation alive. But in the process, Dave may discover something about himself and of what he is capable. The USA is alarmed by news reports about North Korea regarding its leader Kim Jong Un and concerns about his nuclear weapons. North Korea has just tested a ballistic missile system that is big enough to reach the West Coast of the US. Dave Skylark (James Franco), host of the talk show Skylark Tonight, interviews celebrities about personal topics and gossip. It is a big moment for the show when Eminem comes on the show and casual mentions that he is a homosexual. Eminem's publicist barges into the production room and wants to cut off the broadcast, but the producer Aaron Rapaport refuses as this is the biggest interview in the show's history so far. Dave and his crew celebrate their 1,000th episode. Rapaport is upset by a producer peer (who is a senior producer on the show 60 minutes), who criticizes the show as not being a real news program. One of Dave and Aaron's shows is interrupted by news that Kim's nuclear forces have targeted an uninhabited island in the South Pacific with a 15 Megaton Thermonuclear ICBM. Dave and Aaron discover after reading a news article that North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un is a fan of Skylark Tonight (along with other popular US comedy Sitcoms like "The Big Bang Theory"), prompting Aaron Rapoport (Seth Rogen) to arrange an interview. Dave convinces Aaron that doing an interview with Kim is a good way to be taken seriously by the mainstream US media. Aaron leaves a message on the answering machine in Kim's palace, which was originally used by the Olympic committee to coordinate with the North Koreans. Surprisingly, Aaron receives a response and an approval to come to North Korea to interview Kim. Aaron travels to rural China to receive instructions from Sook Yon Pak, a North Korean propagandist who tells Aaron that Kim will grant a 1-hour interview from within North Korea & all the equipment will be provided by the North Koreans. Aaron returns to the US and Dave accepts the task of interviewing Kim on their terms. CIA agent Lacey (Lizzy Caplan) proposes that Dave and Aaron assassinate Kim to facilitate a coup by use of a trans-dermal strip that will expose Kim to Ricin via handshake to prevent a possible nuclear launch against the West Coast. They reluctantly agree. The Ricin poison has a 12-hour dormancy period, which means that Aaron & Dave will not be connected to Kim's death & will have a chance to escape. Dave hides the Ricin strip in a pack of gum. Upon arrival in Pyongyang, the group is greeted by Sook and taken to the palace where they are introduced to Kim's personal security officers Koh and Yu, who are immediately suspicious of them. When Koh finds the strip, he chews it upon mistaking it for gum. After making a secret request for help, Lacey airdrops them two more strips via a drone. However, to get it back to their room, Rapaport is forced to evade a Siberian tiger and hide the container in his rectum, before getting caught and stripped naked by security. Aaron gives Dave only 1 strip & hides the 2nd strip from him. Dave spends the day with Kim, playing basketball, hanging out, riding in his personal tank and fraternizing with Kim's personal array of supermodels. Kim persuades Dave that he is misunderstood, and they become friends. While checking out tanks, Dave finds a sound system that plays "Firework" by Katy Perry, Kim's favorite song. Kim tells Dave that he never has heard the song before. Meanwhile Aaron preps for the interview with the sexy Sook. At a state dinner, Koh suffers a seizure and diarrhea from the Ricin poisoning, accidentally shooting Yu before dying. A guilt-ridden Skylark discards one of the Ricin strips the next morning and thwarts Rapaport's attempt to poison Kim with the second strip. At a dinner mourning the death of Kim's bodyguard, Dave discovers Kim's true malicious character as he angrily threatens South Korean "capitalists", the US and everyone who attempts to undermine his power, and later discovers that Kim has been lying to him upon seeing that the nearby grocery store is fake, and is a Potemkin village (which Kim had earlier highlighted as a symbol of prosperity in his country) Aaron and Sook (Diana Bang) confess their attraction to each other. Sook reveals that she despises Kim and apologizes for defending the regime. Dave, Aaron, and Sook form a plan to break Kim's cult of personality by causing him to cry on-air. Sook convinces Aaron and Dave that killing Kim would simply lead to a replacement taking charge. But humiliating Kim on air would creak his personality cult & would lead the people to real change. Before the broadcast begins, Kim gifts Skylark a puppy as a symbol of their friendship. During the internationally televised interview with Kim, Skylark addresses increasingly sensitive topics, including the food shortage and US-imposed economic sanctions, then challenges his need for his father's approval. Rapaport take over the control room to fight off the guards trying to cut the broadcast, while Sook attacks the soldiers storming the control room, including killing Kim's high-ranking general. Initially resistant and rebuffed Skylark's claims, Kim eventually cries uncontrollably and defecates himself after Skylark, having known his fondness for Katy Perry, betrays him by singing "Firework", ruining his reputation. Kim, enraged at Skylark's betrayal, shoots him and vows revenge by preparing the nuclear missiles. Skylark, whose bulletproof vest has saved him, regroups with Rapaport and Sook to escape and hijacks Kim's tank to get to their pickup point, killing several more soldiers in the process. Kim chases the group in a helicopter, only to be shot down by Skylark before he can issue the command to launch the nuclear missile. With the nuclear threat thwarted, Sook guides Skylark and Rapaport to an escape route, explaining that she has to return to Pyongyang to maintain security. Skylark and Rapaport are later tracked down and rescued by SEAL Team Six members disguised as North Korean soldiers. Back in the US, Skylark writes a book about his experience in North Korea, Rapaport returns to work as a producer and maintains contact with Sook via Skype, and North Korea becomes a denuclearized democracy under Sook's interim leadership.
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