The Interview
Craig Monahan’s The Interview adds to the amazing number of recently released Australian films. Franz Kafka’s The Trial meets the TV series Phoenix in this story of a nobody inexplicably dragged from his flat at 5 in the morning to face a brutal police interview. The meek and unassuming Eddie Fleming (Hugo Weaving) is confused, bewildered and unable to understand what is happening to him. Detectives Steele (Tony Martin) and Prior (Aaron Jeffery) are under pressure to get results, and don’t have the time or inclination to play by the rules in order to get them. However, as Eddie begins to figure out the game they are playing, the balance of power between them changes, and an interesting psychological drama develops.
The Interview manages to sustain our involvement, with solid acting and plot development, but the affectations of Monahan’s direction are sometimes distracting, and reveal his “music video school” training. We are sent into a monotone grey world which, while effective atmospherically, is strangely reflected in the tone of the film — tense, but flat. However, I found what was turning out to be quite a good film marred by a cheap and silly Hollywoodstyle ending, quite lacking in all the intelligence it had been promising up to that point. Although ultimately somewhat disappointing, The Interview does have enough merit to be worth your time to see it, if not your brain space to remember it for long.
Mike Garrett
