“Interview” will make your skin crawl. First there is the sad fact that Dutch
filmmaker Theo van Gogh was assassinated for planning to make it at all. Then
there is the dubious debate in the independent film world of what constitutes
“independent” film now that studios throw money at whoever decides to make one.
These newly celebrated filmmakers often fight back at that accusation by being
as independently ugly as possible. So now there is the vexing question of
whether being independent requires a kind of malicious unpleasantness that is
often the trademark quality of such movies.
Pierre (Steve
Buscemi)and Katya (Sienna Miller) are both cruel liars, and director Buscemi’s
movie is simply 83 minutes of dirty oil dripping out of an upended can. They
circle each other until we perceive one as the winner. At that point we carry
our well earned resentment into the street. But I rush to judgment.
As the movie
opens, Pierre and Katya are meeting for a dinner interview in an upscale city
restaurant. She is late; he is angry. After all, he is Pierre Pedders,
successful political correspondent who is summoned now and then as an expert on
important panel news shows, one of which is taking place on television at this
moment without him during a crisis in Washington. And here he is, waiting in a
restaurant for the young celebrity actress of the moment. He is demeaned,
diminished, and furious.
Are there any
redeeming features? Some. Sienna Miller is indeed adept at putting her character
on equal footing with the nasty Pierre. This is an equal opportunity battle.
Katya has earned her celebrity through a series of “beautiful blonde” films
including the most recent, a horror movie. It is this last that seems to be the
final straw for Pierre’s damaged ego. They leave the restaurant in fury only to
end up in her loft after he is involved in a taxi accident. Now in a private
space, the gloves are off.
We get to
watch two people getting drunk, then one of them topping it off with cocaine,
all while wielding lies as weapons. Quick thinkers, these, they rip the masks
off each other quickly only to begin again. Katya and Pierre are narcissistic,
self-indulgent, and spoiled rotten. Each battle ends with his leaving or her
telling him to get out. For eighty minutes this doesn’t happen; they just settle
down to more brawling.
Steve Buscemi
has an extremely unpleasant voice and manner. Sienna Miller is quick witted and
good looking and probably a good actress if you can cut through her character.
Surrounded by clouds of cigarette smoke, he is a pill popping alcoholic, and she
an alcoholic cocaine addict. Miller needs to prove herself in another movie
before we can forget this tedious one. These are two thoroughly unpleasant
people, and I don’t want to listen to them even if the film world considers them
grand independent film actors.
Copyright (c) Illusion